Rock Of Ages

ROCK OF AGES

Just as good (or bad) as you thought it would be.

2012: Warner Bros./New Line Cinema

        

2012, Rock Musical, Rated PG-13

Warner Bros./New Line

          Rock of Ages is a Broadway musical adapted into a feature film with star power up the wazoo. Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Julianne Hough turn in particularly note-worthy performances. It's a rock n' roll musical set in 1987 Hollywood in a club called The Bourbon Room. It tells a love story, along with many other side stories, but characters break out into catchy 80s covers when they want to say something that coincides with the lyrics in the song. It's extremely clever whether you are a fan of 80s music or not, and don't act like you don't recognize almost every single song.
          This is a tough movie to describe with words. I feel like a need a soundtrack for this review. Rock of Ages was everything I wanted it to be. It's ridiculous, over-the-top, and silly as Hell but it knows it. That's the key. You'll realize while watching that the film isn't meant to be taken as seriously as one might think. There are so many winks at the audience basically admitting the whole thing is goofy. But it's really fun along the way. I've had Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" in my head since I left the theater.
       I'm not an 80s guy. I don't own any of the albums that the songs in this movie appeared on. I still was able to practically sing along to every song. Just when the story is getting lame and cliche, a character will start singing "Jukebox Hero" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" and you can't help but get back into it. I guess whether you'll like the movie or not depends on how much you like the music. All the slow songs were boring to me. The love songs mostly between Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta were boring to me. But that's just me.
       This is what I mean by "as good (or bad)". If you saw the trailer and thought "That looks good, I will enjoy that", well then you most likely will. It delivers everything the hype and previews promised. If you saw the trailer and thought "That looks stupid, I don't like Tom Cruise or musicals", well then don't go see it because you will be bored. It's a great and fun movie if you're in the mood for an upbeat musical you can sing along to.
       Paul Giamatti was a particular favorite of mine. He delivers the goods as the sleazy manager of Stacee Jaxx. He is great at playing the creepy, angry guy. He only sings two lines and I was relieved when he stopped. Catherine Zeta-Jones was amazing as the mayor's wife trying to shut down the Bourbon Room with the help of the church. She was throwin' high kicks around like a gymnast. She outdanced her much younger background dancers in almost every song. She was pitch-perfect. Alec Baldwin's character was kind of dopey and lame but he still did a good job, providing a handful of laughs and gags. Russel Brand is okay here. He is toned down a bit, not so loud and annoying. He and Alec Baldwin share some intimate moments that I did not see coming. And then there's Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx. I am a self-proclaimed Tom Cruise fan. I think he is an excellent actor and his movies are always fun to watch, sometimes thanks only to him. He absolutely killed this role. He pretty much owns it to the fullest. The only thing lacking was an amazing singing voice, but he still sounded pretty good. Over all this movie is pretty good and Tom Cruise makes it great.
       One cool aspect about the film is incorporated into the singing and dancing routines. While a character is confessing his love or venting frustration through song, the movie cuts to other characters and shows what they are doing as well. It was interesting and helped further the plot while people were singing joyously and breaking out into choreographed dance numbers for five minutes at a time.
       Rock of Ages comes in at two hours and three minutes which feels way too long while you're sitting through one 80s cover after another, but this film is so much fun at the same time. The 80s are depicted with realism and respect and all the actors look right at home. I guess I'll say it again. If you thought it looked good, go see it. If you didn't you should consider it, but I'm not saying you'll like it no matter who you are.