Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Chris and his band go to the concert, they are in the front standing next to the stage. However, when the camera cuts to show the entire audience, different people are standing where Chris and his band were. From that view, Chris and his band are not even in the audience.
Factual error: In the opening credits, a new model Chevy S-10 is shown. That body style wasn't out till the mid 90's.
Continuity mistake: When Izzy is going to the concert with Steel Dragon, there's a shot of Bobby Beers holding the mic stand, but in the next shot he is not holding the stand and the next one he is again.
Continuity mistake: When Steel Dragon's original singer is being fired watch the amount of hair lying in front of his left shoulder change from shot to shot.
Continuity mistake: There is a part in the movie where there are a montage of articles and photos of Chris "Izzy" Cole and Steel Dragon. If you look carefully at one of the articles supposedly about Izzy, you very plainly see the words "Limp Bizkit", a band which obviously came out after 1985.
Audio problem: Right after the first press conference, Izzy and Emily are seen walking and talking. If you watch Emily's lips they are not in sync with what you hear.
Factual error: Why are the L.A. freeways shown to be virtually deserted? Freeways in L.A. aren't deserted at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, let alone in the middle of the day.
Factual error: At one point a Steel Dragon roadie can be seen setting up a Zildjian A Custom China cymbal, but that particular instrument was not available until 1992.
Continuity mistake: When Chris and Emily are staring at the guitar in the glass case, from the front Emily has hair falling over her left shoulder. From the back/side view, however, all her hair is pushed back.
Continuity mistake: During Izzy's first concert, when he's singing his "power ballad," look which hand is holding the mic. In the closeups, it's his left hand, but in the wide shots, it's the right.
Continuity mistake: In the scene right after Izzy falls and gashes his face, after getting up in a daze and continuing the song, look in the background at Jason Bonham behind the drums. His hands are up in the air holding the drumsticks, yet at the exact time there is sound coming from the drums, as if he is tapping the snare.
Continuity mistake: When Emily is watching Chris's audition, in the close-up she is standing still. But then it cuts to the wide shot, and she's rocking back and forth.
Factual error: The drummer in Chris' cover band can be seen playing with a Pearl rack which didn't come out until 1999 even though the movie takes place in 1985.
Deliberate mistake: During "Izzy"'s inaugural concert with Steel Dragon, there are two shots that are recycled during the first song. One is the rear shot of the guitarist in a low stance rocking back and forth, and the other is Jennifer Aniston raising her arms in the air and screaming for the band. Not only is the repeat a mistake, but when they reuse the shot of the guitarist, the second time it is not in time with the music.
Audio problem: When Chris asks Emily if she wants her nipples pierced, we hear her say "Maybe", but her mouth moves as if she says "yeah".
Factual error: Close to the end of the movie when Chris quits Steel Dragon and is interviewed on MTV, the MTV logo that was on the microphone was not the same one from 1985. In 1985 the M on MTV was standing straight up.
Continuity mistake: The blood on Chris' face during the first concert is a disaster. First, about a second after he falls, there's a ton of blood. Then, a few minutes later, when there should be more blood, given that there's been more time for it to flow out, there's in fact less. When Chris goes into the wings to get it wiped off, there's just a little, but right when he returns to the stage, there's more than there was before he got cleaned up.
Factual error: There is a scene in the place where Izzy works with a very modern-looking copier for the 80's.
Continuity mistake: During Izzy's first concert with Steel Dragon, you can see that one of Kirk's guitar stings is broken. After Izzy sprays the audience with the fire hose, you can see that Kirk's broken string is replaced.
Factual error: There are at least three (or more) songs that are played "out of date": "Devil Inside" by Inxs (1987), "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard (1992), and "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi (1987) are played in the movie, before a scene dated 1985, where Jennifer Aniston breaks up with Mark Wahlberg.
Answer: He is meant to be maybe in his early to mid 20's.