Horsemouth (Leroy Horsemouth Wallace) is a drummer in Jamaica who is in demand as one of the best in the business, but alas this has not translated into a major income. However, he makes a little cash on the side working for the record companies and other musicians, collecting money in debt which he takes a cut of to go towards his real current interest: a motorcycle. He has been hankering after this transport for some time, though his wife Madgie (Monica Craig) is less than impressed seeing as how she has their three young children to feed and her means are being sorely tested by lack of funds. Isn't Horsemouth supposed to be catering for her, too? No matter, he has the required amount and that bike will be his...
Mention the classic reggae movie of the nineteen-seventies to most film fans and they will immediately think of The Harder They Come, the Jimmy Cliff showcase that made waves around the world in the early part of the decade. However, at the other end of that decade there was also Rockers, which didn't seek to highlight one performer's career but a whole host of Jamaican talents, casting what was for this small Caribbean nation a star in almost every role. That said, to identify them it would help if you were either well-versed in the music of the era, or indeed were part of the culture that this depicted, as it made little attempt to win over the unconverted: it pretty much was what it was.
Therefore if you don't know who Horsemouth was, then this would tell you, but don't expect to be an expert on reggae after watching it; the biggest star featured was probably Gregory Isaacs, who would become a huge star in his field in the eighties, making it amusing to witness him joining our hero's band of merry men come the heist climax. Before we reached that we had some plot to get through, though in truth the attitude of both Greek-born director Ted Bafaloukos and those around him making the movie was that the music was paramount in its importance, and the yarn they were spinning tended to be secondary to that. Mind you, there was a message here about the triumph of the underdog if you wanted it.
Otherwise Rockers was a bit of a ramble that took in as much of the way of life of the typical Rasta in Jamaica as it could, emphasising the philosophy as for example in one scene Horsemouth is roughed up by the father of the woman he has been chatting up, but instead of fighting back he addresses the audience watching about the peaceful beliefs of Rastafarianism, and besides, whoever has crossed him will meet their doom when the prophecies come true. Business like this could have been irreverent, and there was a degree of humour present, but if it was sincere about anything it was sincere about its religion and its music, which according to this could transcend all ills, be that poverty or crime. It was the crime that Horsemouth sought to fight back against in his own particular manner.
One lawbreaking incident especially was what set him off, as after spending about half an hour of the movie riding around on his motorbike, the vehicle is stolen, much to his dismay (to the strains of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves on the soundtrack, no less). He doesn't trust the police to retrieve his prized possession, so sets out to drum up support when he discovers that the culprit is organised crime, and remember that rich bloke who pushed him over? He's the mastermind behind the theft, which leads to the Robin Hood element when Horsemouth organises a bunch of reggae musicians to get their own back on The Man who would try to keep them down for the grand finale. This enjoyed a quality that wasn't naïve, but was surprisingly breezy, finding time to digress into such scenes as the leading man and his buddy Dirty Harry visiting a nightclub where insipid disco plays, so they take over the DJ booth and put on the sort of roots music they think the patrons should be dancing to. That was important, as well as a lark: without the endorsement of the tunes, Rockers might have been inconsequential, yet with them, it generously proved its worth.
