MOVIE OF THE WEEK (6/15/12): ROCK OF AGES
"Tell me the truth ... Does this jacket smell like I've been wearing it without a shirt underneath?" Dennis Dupress (Alec Baldwin) looks on as hard rock - and hard rocking - legend Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) ponders in a scene from from director Adam Shankman's big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical ROCK OF AGES. Credit: David James © Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Paul
Giamatti, Mary J. Blige, Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Bryan Cranston,
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Diego Boneta
WRITER(S): Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo and Allan Loeb (screenplay); Chris D'Arienzo (original musical book)
DIRECTOR: Adam Shankman
WEB SITE: www.rockofagesmovies.warnerbros.com
THE PLOT: Based on the Broadway hit play of the same name and directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray), Rock of Ages begins by introducing you to Sherrie (Julianne Hough), a Tulsa, Okla. native on a Greyhound bus in route to California. Why California? Because that's where Hollywood is - and that's where she is going to pursue her dreams of becoming a star.
Arriving in Hollywood, though, Sherrie quickly realizes she's not in the small city anymore. Needing a job and down to her last $17, she is fortunate enough to run into Drew (Diego Boneta). A bar back who works at The Bourbon Room, one of the hippest clubs in all the land run by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and house emcee Lonny (Russell Brand). Drew - who just so happens to be a musician himself - quickly falls in love with Sherrie, setting the two off on a whirlwind romance.
But all is not well in Bourbon Room land ... For Dennis is having a bit of tax trouble - and that is the perfect opening for Mayor Mike Whitmore (Bryan Cranston) and his ambitious wife Patricia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to strike. You see, the Mayor is always looking for a new way to show he wants to "restore" the city to make it safe for children and his wife really - for some reason unbeknownst to him - as an ax to grind against the Bourbon Room. As bleak as things look, there's not much it seems Dennis can do to his beloved club afloat ...
Then again, if manager Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti) can actually get his top client - the enigmatic, intoxicated and always amorous Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) to actually show up and play his gig, who knows what might happen ...
Arriving in Hollywood, though, Sherrie quickly realizes she's not in the small city anymore. Needing a job and down to her last $17, she is fortunate enough to run into Drew (Diego Boneta). A bar back who works at The Bourbon Room, one of the hippest clubs in all the land run by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and house emcee Lonny (Russell Brand). Drew - who just so happens to be a musician himself - quickly falls in love with Sherrie, setting the two off on a whirlwind romance.
But all is not well in Bourbon Room land ... For Dennis is having a bit of tax trouble - and that is the perfect opening for Mayor Mike Whitmore (Bryan Cranston) and his ambitious wife Patricia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to strike. You see, the Mayor is always looking for a new way to show he wants to "restore" the city to make it safe for children and his wife really - for some reason unbeknownst to him - as an ax to grind against the Bourbon Room. As bleak as things look, there's not much it seems Dennis can do to his beloved club afloat ...
Then again, if manager Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti) can actually get his top client - the enigmatic, intoxicated and always amorous Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) to actually show up and play his gig, who knows what might happen ...
THE TAKE: If you grew up in the 1980s, there was no escaping rock n' roll, especially hard rock. Before there were iPods, MP3s and things like Spotify, Pandora and even Sirius/XM, there were things called "records," radio stations that would actually not play the same song 40 times a day and - you may not believe this, kids - MTV actually played music!!! It's true, back in the days when Swatch watches and Guess? jeans ruled the land in pop culture, ripped acid wash jeans, wrist/neck scarves and hair of epic proportions. (If you live in the Greater Cincinnati area, you can still find all three of these items regularly at food festivals, lower grade malls and sporting events.)
... And the soundtrack to all of that excess for the most part was hard rock/heavy metal - and Rock of Ages pays a fitting tribute (for better and worse) to it all in cheesy-yet-satisfying fashion.
There are definitely a couple of things you'll quickly take away from Ages: [1] Julianne Hough will not be denied as she proves she can not only dance (take a look at her legs in some of the outfits in this movie and you'll be heading to the gym ASAP), but sing as well (expect to see her in anything musical for at least the next 2-4 years); [2] Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti should NOT be allowed to sing unless it's for the sake of comedy, which it is here either intentionally or unintentionally; [3] Russell Brand seems to really excel when he's doing something related to music; and [4] Tom Cruise, love him or hate him, REALLY does look the part of a 80s rock star so well that if that is truly indeed him singing in the film, you may be tempted to think he he chose the wrong entertainment career path.
Now, is the film flawed? Oh yeah. Mary J. Blige, who is thrown into every outfit the film's costume designer must have found at Chaka Khan's last yard sale, doesn't really fit as Justice, the sage-like owner of a strip club with fortune cookie-esque wisdom to spare. Likewise, the choreography during every one of Zeta-Jones' numbers ends up being even sillier than the character archetype (Parents Music Resource Center co-founder Tipper Gore). And of course, the beyond predictable (even if you haven't seen the Broadway show) story is, well, predictable.
What saves the movie are the musical performances ... Even though some are MUCH better than others. While Hough and Boneta proves they can sing, Cruise proves he can be a rock star - and therein lies the difference in what keeps Rock of Ages from being great. He's the only one who owns every moment he's in. While everyone does there job well, you'll likely have more fun listening to the original artists' tracks than paying to see actors do it in Rock of Ages.
... And the soundtrack to all of that excess for the most part was hard rock/heavy metal - and Rock of Ages pays a fitting tribute (for better and worse) to it all in cheesy-yet-satisfying fashion.
There are definitely a couple of things you'll quickly take away from Ages: [1] Julianne Hough will not be denied as she proves she can not only dance (take a look at her legs in some of the outfits in this movie and you'll be heading to the gym ASAP), but sing as well (expect to see her in anything musical for at least the next 2-4 years); [2] Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti should NOT be allowed to sing unless it's for the sake of comedy, which it is here either intentionally or unintentionally; [3] Russell Brand seems to really excel when he's doing something related to music; and [4] Tom Cruise, love him or hate him, REALLY does look the part of a 80s rock star so well that if that is truly indeed him singing in the film, you may be tempted to think he he chose the wrong entertainment career path.
Now, is the film flawed? Oh yeah. Mary J. Blige, who is thrown into every outfit the film's costume designer must have found at Chaka Khan's last yard sale, doesn't really fit as Justice, the sage-like owner of a strip club with fortune cookie-esque wisdom to spare. Likewise, the choreography during every one of Zeta-Jones' numbers ends up being even sillier than the character archetype (Parents Music Resource Center co-founder Tipper Gore). And of course, the beyond predictable (even if you haven't seen the Broadway show) story is, well, predictable.
What saves the movie are the musical performances ... Even though some are MUCH better than others. While Hough and Boneta proves they can sing, Cruise proves he can be a rock star - and therein lies the difference in what keeps Rock of Ages from being great. He's the only one who owns every moment he's in. While everyone does there job well, you'll likely have more fun listening to the original artists' tracks than paying to see actors do it in Rock of Ages.
PARTING SHOT: A wonderfully corny film as over-the-top as the genre of rock and decade it depicts, Rock of Ages does exactly what many 80s songs will make you do upon hearing them now:
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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