Rated
PG-13 (Sexual content, Suggestive Dancing, some Heavy Drinking, and Language)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 3 Minutes
Cast-
Tom
Cruise-Stacee Jaxx
Julianne
Hough-Sherrie Christian
Diego
Boneta-Drew Boley
Alec
Baldwin-Dennis Dupree
Russell
Brand-Lonny Barnett
Catherine
Zeta-Jones-Patricia Whitmore
Paul
Giamatti-Paul Gill
Malin
Akerman-Constance Sack
Mary
J. Blige-Justice Charlier
Bryan
Cranston-Mayor Mike Whitmore
Will
Forte-Mitch Miley
Directed
by Adam Shankman
 |
| Tom Cruise unleashes his inner rock star as Stacee Jaxx in "Rock of Ages," based upon the Broadway musical of the same name. |
'Just
a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world / She took the midnight train goin'
anywhere / Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit / He took the
midnight train goin' anywhere / A singer in a smoky room / A smell of wine and
cheap perfume / For a smile they can share the night / It goes on and on and on
and on / *chorus* / Don't stop believin' / Hold on to that feelin' /
Streetlight people!' The following is an excerpt from Journey's Don't Stop Believin’, a
song that has withstood the test of time since its release thirty-one years ago
in 1981, having appeared in numerous films and television shows such as the
pilot episode of Fox's "Glee" in 2009. It is also the closing number
for the Broadway rock/jukebox musical Rock
of Ages, which premiered on July 27, 2005 at the King King club on
Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Warner Brothers/New Line Cinema
acquired the film rights to the show after its successful run Off-Broadway at
New World Stages from 2008 to 2009 and chose Adam Shankman as director, who previously adapted another Broadway musical into a film, the 2007
remake of "Hairspray." Rock
of Ages is a celebration of rock music during the 1980's, which I'm
not exactly a fan of as I prefer the orchestral sounds of John Williams or Hans
Zimmer. The only band I listen to is She & Him since I find Zooey
Deschanel's vocals very soothing, although I do have Hall & Oates and The
Smiths in my music library on Windows Media Player. "Rock of Ages"
was a film that I initially thought I wasn't going to enjoy but I was
pleasantly surprised when I left the theater with a smile on my face. While its
clichéd script never forms a cohesive whole due to its many disparate subplots,
"Rock of Ages" remains a cheesy, infectious film that serves as a sincere
love letter to the classic rock hits of the 1980's.
It's 1987 and a small town
girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma named Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) is traveling
to Los Angeles, California with dreams of becoming a famous singer. Passing by
a popular nightclub called The
Bourbon Room, Sherrie's suitcase containing her favorite rock
albums ends up getting stolen. A bar-back working at the club, Drew Boley
(Diego Boneta), sees the robbery and unsuccessfully tries to stop the thief.
Introducing himself to Sherrie, Drew offers to get her a job waitressing at The Bourbon Room when
he learns that she has little money, having just recently arrived in the city.
The club's owner, Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin), reluctantly hires her after
some convincing. The
Bourbon Room is currently being threatened with unpaid taxes and
Dupree, along with his right-hand man Lonny Barnett (Russell Brand), hope that
Stacee Jaxx's (Tom Cruise) final performance with his rock band Arsenal will
bring in the necessary income. Jaxx is preparing to launch a solo career but
there are rumors that he was kicked off the band for being difficult to work
with. Drew and Sherrie embark on a relationship and confess to each other their
dreams of becoming famous. Meanwhile, ultra-conservative Patricia Whitmore
(Catherine Zeta-Jones), wife of Mayor Mike Whitmore (Bryan Cranston), is
threatening to close down The
Bourbon Room for corrupting the city's youth with rock music.
Based
upon Chris D'Arienzo's musical of the same name, "Rock of Ages" is
not only a celebration of the greatest rock hits of the 1980's but also serves
as a humorous and nostalgic window of a bygone era. Adapted by D'Arienzo with
the help of writers Justin Theroux and Allan Loeb, the script is by far the
film's weakest element as it is crammed full of subplots that are only
tangentially related to each other. From Dennis and Lonny's struggle to keep The Bourbon Room in
business to Stacee Jaxx's attempts to rediscover his creative spark and move
past his existential loneliness, there is simply too much going on and this has the
unfortunate side effect of reducing the central romance between Drew and
Sherrie as little more than an afterthought in the film. Part of the problem is
that Hough and Boneta's characters aren't as compelling when compared to their
more colorful co-stars but "Rock of Ages" manages to overcome these
shortcomings with its energetic and unapologetically cheesy tone. It's hard not
to get caught up in all the excitement because the cast are genuinely having
fun as they belt out classic rock hits that include Guns N' Roses' Paradise City and Bon
Jovi's Wanted Dead or
Alive. The film's soundtrack contains an eclectic mix of music from
Poison, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard and many more. I found all the
musical set-pieces enjoyable from Mary J. Blige's Any Way You Want It to a dueling medley of
We Built This City
and We're Not Gonna Take
It between Russell Brand and Catherine Zeta-Jones but the standout
has to be Tom Cruise as the Axl Rose-inspired Stacee Jaxx. Who knew that Cruise
had such an amazing voice?! While Jaxx is only a supporting character, Cruise
throws himself into the role with such wild zeal, making a memorable entrance
where he slowly rises from a bed full of naked female groupies wearing nothing but
a rhinestone-incrusted leather codpiece. Any skepticism I had of his casting
went away the minute he began singing and his commitment elevates the
film.
In fact the entire ensemble cast is excellent with their
intentionally over-the-top performances. Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta won't
be remembered for their acting skills but they bring a sincere earnestness to
their respective characters. Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand provide quite a lot
of laughs with their bromance, leading to a duet of REO Speedwagon's Can't Fight This Feeling
while Catherine Zeta-Jones gleefully prances around in a red power-suit to Pat
Benatar's single Hit Me
with Your Best Shot with her church group as backup dancers. As Rolling Stones reporter
Constance Sack, Malin Akerman gets to share this ridiculous, sexually-charged
scene where she and Cruise sing Foreigner's I
Want to Know What Love Is as they rip off each other's clothes.
Rounding out the cast is Mary J. Blige as Venus Club owner Justice
Charlier, who lends her impressive vocals as support, and Paul Giamatti as Paul
Gill, a sleazy music agent more concerned about the bottom-line than the
art-form. Late in the film, Drew signs up with Paul as his manager and is
turned into the front-man for an embarrassingly corny boy band called the 'Z
Boyz' (pronounced 'Zee Boyeezz'), a humorous dig at the numerous boy
bands that would dominate the 1990's. Jon Hutman's production design is
first-rate (a 1980's version of the Sunset Strip was built in Downtown
Miami and occupied six blocks) as are Rita Ryack's costumes, which perfectly
capture the fashion trends of the 1980's.
"Rock of Ages" will be
released on June 15, 2012 and has received mixed reviews so far with 43% on
Rotten Tomatoes. I saw the film at an advanced screening and the audience
thoroughly enjoyed it, fully aware of its inherent cheesiness. Similar to
2008's "Mamma Mia!", "Rock of Ages" will most likely garner
a more positive reception from general audiences given its crowd-pleasing tone
but critics are going to write off the film (and already have) as a shallow,
clichéd experience. A number of reviews also unfavorably compared it to Fox's
television show "Glee." The only competition to "Rock of
Ages" is Adam Sandler's latest comedy "That's My Boy," where the
actor is once again portraying a man-child. Both films are unlikely to dethrone
"Madagascar 3 Europe's Most Wanted" but despite its dubious quality,
"That's My Boy" will likely end up in second place since it is
positioned two days before Father's Day, leaving "Rock of Ages"
in third place with $25 to $30 million, which isn't bad for a film with a
production budget of $70 million. Keep in mind that Shankman's film could still
potentially land in second place if it receives positive word-of-mouth. Despite
the clichéd mess of a script, "Rock of Ages" is still one of the most
fun experiences I've had at the theater thanks to the film's irresistibly goofy
charm and a totally committed performance from Tom Cruise. Guaranteed you'll
have Nothin' but a Good
Time so if you've been dying to relive the glory days of the
1980's, by all means ROCK ON!
Final
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
"Sometimes
things that are lost can be found again. Don't stop believing!"
Posts
