The film: This has to be a contender for worst film ever made. What on Earth was Mark Wahlberg thinking? He has been in some good movies (Boogie Nights, Three Kings) and there was absolutely no need for him to blot his copy book with this garbage.

The story is as basic as it gets. Wahlberg (left) plays Chris Cole, the lead singer of a tribute band to 1980s heavy rockers Steel Dragon. He lives at home in quiet suburbia and mends photocopy machines by day. Oh, and he hangs out with his manager/girlfriend Emile Poule, played by Jennifer Aniston.

And then, improbably, he's called by the real band, who've seen a video of one of his gigs, and asked to replace their current lead singer Bobby Beers (played by Snatch star Jason Flemyng). Soon enough he's strutting his stuff in front of stadium crowds and is living the true rock'n'roll dream.

It soon becomes clear the rock-star life is not all it's cracked up to be (yawn) as Cole loses his girlfriend and his sanity, before realising he's just a hired hand. However, redemption is his when he leaves the band, reverts to singing his own tunes in coffee houses and eventually wins the girl back. Sorry to give it all away, but there's nothing here you couldn't predict from the moment the film opens.

And there's no let up either; it is terrible throughout. The acting is hammy and wooden, there's no humour and the direction completely lacks originality. But then, guess what? Stephen Herek's other films include Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Mighty Ducks and 101 Dalmatians.

The extras: There is what the packaging describes as a 'making of' featurette, but how it qualifies as such is a mystery. It's really just a short promo, with very little behind-the-scenes access. Apparently the entire cast and crew thought they were working on a parody about 1980s rock music. Strange it didn't strike them that it wasn't funny. Perhaps someone should explain to Herek that parody doesn't involve replicating 80s films and music and adding a sloppy love angle. There has to be some laughs. There's also the usual director's commentary, a rock video, theatrical trailer and cast and crew bios.

The verdict: Awful film, awful package. The only possible reason to watch it is to see British actor Timothy Spall (Intimacy, Secrets And Lies) with a mullet hairdo. It's the funniest part of the whole movie.

Riding In Cars With Boys

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Adam Garcia, Brittany Murphy, James Woods, Lorraine Bracco

Director: Penny Marshall

The film: A rites-of-passage film on several levels, Riding In Cars With Boys isn't bad. It has a decent cast - including Drew Barrymore, the irrepressible James Woods and Lorraine Bracco (GoodFellas) - as well as an interesting storyline, based on the memoir of the same name by Beverly Donofrio.

Barrymore (right) plays Beverly, the talented young daughter of the poor but upstanding Donofrios (Woods and Bracco). They have great plans for her but she just can't stay out of trouble. Her biggest problem is she likes the opposite sex too much and soon enough she is, aged 15, pregnant. Following a shotgun wedding to the father, the thick but well-meaning Ray (Steve Zahn), Beverly finds herself living in a tiny house with a kid and an irresponsible husband who spends most of his time drunk. Worse still, her father doesn't want to see her.

However, Beverly is a fighter and aspires to more. She tries hard to find an escape route for herself and her son by attempting to obtain a college scholarship. Unfortunately, life, mainly in the guise of her son, gets in the way. For this she resents her child, a fact she never ceases to remind him about. It's only when her marriage irrevocably falls apart that she finally gets the break she needs.

Cue jump to the present, when her memoir is about to be published and she is travelling with her now adult son to ask Ray, who lives in a trailer park, to sign an agreement not to sue her for anything she's written about him. Only with his signature can she achieve her long-desired goal - to be published. The family reunion opens old wounds and also makes Beverly realise the effects her drive for self-fulfilment may have had on her son.

All in all it's pretty good. The only real problem is Barrymore and Woods hardly seem to age, despite both living a good 20 years of their lives on screen. It's particularly hard to swallow that Beverly at 15 looks exactly the same as she does when she's 35. Also, it does tend towards sentimentalism at times.

The extras: There are four featurettes on this bumper disc that deal with Barrymore's views on the film, how they recreated the cars from the 1960s, how they made the sets for the film, and also about the real lives of the author and her son. These are genuinely interesting and resist the temptation for pats on the back. For that you need look no further than the HBO special, which as usual is banal and ludicrous. There's also a commentary by Barrymore, theatrical trailers and filmographies.

The verdict: A reasonable movie rounded off with a nice set of extras.