Having lived in Los Angeles during mid 1980's when this takes place, I can confirm the existence of people walking around either with sweaters neatly placed over their shoulders or those scary mullet hair styles that today get sneers.
the slobs) is referenced in this adaption of the Broadway hit that just leaves a huge uncomfortable taste in my mouth. This could also be referred to as "the rip off movie" with its theft of ideas from films dating from "42nd Street" to rock and roll films of the 1960's (like "Don't Knock the Rock") where elderly squares bellowed lines like "rock and roll has got to go!" while smashing a 45 rpm record, up to John Waters' camp classic "Cry Baby". Still, they're fun enough and I think this film at least proves that rock and roll is here to stay.Įxcept that "42nd Street" has changed to Sunset Boulevard's Bourbon Club, a fictional rock venue similar to the Viper Room and the Whiskey a go-go. ROCK OF AGES stills falls short of being a great film and I think the majority of this is due to the unoriginal story and perhaps some of it is due to the songs, which aren't exactly the greatest pieces of music ever written. The majority of the sets are fun and the rock numbers are also well staged. It also didn't hurt that he had a perfect voice for his music numbers. The wonderful performance makes you feel as if you're really looking at a star and the funny touches the star brought to the part just added to the fun. The real standout is of course Tom Cruise who is 100% believable in the part of the rock star as he nails the entire sex, drugs and rock and roll of the character. Blige, Catherine Zita-Jones and Malin Akerman are also good in their parts. Boneta was also extremely good in his part as is Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand and Baldwin in theirs. I found her story to be incredibly silly but the actress still made you care about her character. I found Hough to be extremely pretty, charming and believable in her part and her take on the music was also fresh. Some of the stand outs include Pour Some Sugar on Me, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, I Love Rock and Roll and a monster mix of We Built ThiS City and We're Not Going to Take It. I'm not a major fan of any of these groups/people because my main interests are the late 60s and 70s rock but I think for the most part the cast did good versions of their tunes. The soundtrack includes covers of Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Poison, Journey, Foreigner, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, White Snake and many others. However, I guess it would be fair to say that most people are coming for the music and I think the majority of the songs work just fine.
Again, if you're looking for a strong story then you're not going to find it here as everything is pretty predictable from start to finish. ROCK OF AGES has pretty much no story and there's no question that your take on the music is going to determine how much you enjoy the picture but for the most part I think the film was a minor success thanks in large part to some terrific performances. Also hitting the town is a club owner (Alec Baldwin) trying to save his establishment while the rock legend Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) thinks about where his career is going. Rock of Ages (2012) *** (out of 4) Good, loud and fun adaptation of the Broadway hit has small town girl Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and city boy Drew (Diego Boneta) becoming friends and falling in love while trying to make their dreams come try in Los Angeles during the late 80s.
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