Rock Of Ages
- Director: Adam Shankman
- Genre: Comedy, Musical
- Details: USA/TBC TBC
- Release Date: 08/06/2012
Boasting the obligatory spandex-anthems of the 80s, this Broadway adaptation is overlong but sporadically fun. Said fun mostly comes via the star power of Tom Cruise, while Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin are also highlights in a production that could’ve easily been twenty minutes shorter. The clichéd core story merely gets in the way of an otherwise energetic flick.
Someone, somewhere (possibly Ryan Seacrest) has decided that Julianne Hough is now the hottest shit in town. Here she plays a small town girl, living in a lonely world who takes a midnight train to… you catch my drift. Landing in LA she meets the wide-eyed enthusiasm of bar-back, wannabe rock star Diego Boneta and promptly falls in love; sort of like an unstoppable force of naivety hitting an immovable object of stupidity. While those two are making puppy dog eyes at each other, the iconic venue The Bourbon Room (owned by Baldwin and ran by Brand) prepares itself for a huge gig from Axel Rose like rocker Stacey Jaxx (Cruise, bearing a distractingly toned navel for a man in his late 40s).
If Rock of Ages commits one crime said crime is excess. Had Cruise’s obvious, tried and tested charisma been used more sparingly, then it would’ve given viewers something to look forward to - like his extended cameo in Tropic Thunder. Instead, it’s more of a supporting role, and after enough screentime the impact lessons somewhat. That said, he’s still admirably game to belt out tunes and oozes the type of frontman charisma that director Shankman needed.
It was always going to be tough transferring the buzz of the stage production to the big screen, but Shankman had done it before with the enjoyable Hairspray. While his leads here are fine, some supporting characters needed to end up on the cutting room floor - Mary J Blige playing a former stripper farting pearls of wisdom should have been the first. Despite its many flaws, Rock of Ages is still a hard film not to like; by the time Brand and Baldwin go Brokeback you should already be on-board with the tonal lunacy.
Very silly, way too long, but also colourful and full of an infectious energy.
Review by Mike Sheridan | 09:00 | Friday 15th June 2012 | Movie Review
Comments
-
birdy
Movie Show link is not working
Posted 15:22 | Wed 13th Jun 2012 -
hadley
First, you may think that you sound like a hot writer with the phrase "has decided that Julianne Hough is now the hottest s**t in town" but referring to women as s**t just makes you sound 16. Second, the correct phrase would be "owned by Baldwin and run by Brand" not ran. Go back to school, sounds like you're still there.
Posted 01:49 | Sun 17th Jun 2012 -
Fuisce
Has anyone seen this yet, some friends went last night but couldn't make it. They are big Def Lep fans though so went mainly for the music.
Posted 11:01 | Sun 17th Jun 2012 -
FilmBuff76
If you go in with the right frame of mind and don't expect too much from it, then Rock Of Ages is quite enjoyable. Tom Cruise is hilarious - and he can sing too.
Posted 11:07 | Sun 17th Jun 2012 -
Linda
Corny but good if you like hairspray and that sort of musicals you'll enjoy this
Posted 16:14 | Tue 19th Jun 2012 -
Bryce
Is that Tom Cruise really singing?
Posted 18:03 | Wed 20th Jun 2012 -
Paul
I loved it, flat out loved it. I'm normally not fond of musicals, especially ones like this where every character just HAS to sing almost every line in their script. But this worked so well, brilliant music (My kind of music, anyone who knows me knows i'm a HUGE Journey fan), brilliant cast (Tom Cruise has never made a bad movie, well, aside from Risky Business which does nothing for me, but was still a massive hit., apart from that, everything he's been in has been A+ in my opinion) and lots of spectacular women (Malin Akerman is my reason for getting up everyday...). Yes the story's total junk, yes the whole "I wrote Don't Stop Believin' for my girlfriend" thing angers me (I hate movies were songs are used as if they've never been heard of before), yes Diego Boneta is as interesting as watching paint dry (Not a great singer either) and yes, Julianne Hough sings way too much (But damn she's all kinds of fine), but aside from any of that, i had a total blast. There were times i had to pinch myself to remind me i wasn't at a gig, the urge to stand, sing and clap like a seal was strong. Loved the versions of the song, having Anyway You Want It sang in a strip club was genius, and Tom Cruise stripping Malin Akerman while they sang I Want To Know What Love Is was hilarious, it was like one of those music videos that would be aired on MTV once and then get banned, they actually could use that scene as a video (Malin in her undies will sell any song). Tom Cruise himself obviously is brilliant in it, steals the show, and scarily is like a real rockstar, it was like watching a huge star having a meltdown before going out on stage. For me, his scenes with Malin were my favourites in the movie, the Rolling Stone interview had me in a fit. And his singing is brilliant for a guy who's never sang on that scale, a bit more work and he could release albums. The rest of the cast were hit and miss, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin were hilarious, loved them both. Catherine Zeta Jones, while i do love her, wasn't great, but had some good moments. Paul Giamatti was another huge scene stealer, he was hilarious, that man can do no wrong. And Adam Shankman, if a man can make a musical real good, he can, love the Hannah Montana movie and his Hairspray remake (Hated the original Hairspray movie). Brilliant movie, well worth going to see, i loved it.
Posted 13:26 | Fri 22nd Jun 2012 -
lssnaz
My daughter and I loved this movie. It was so much fun. I was pleasantly shocked my Tom Cruise's musical talents. The man can sing. His time on screen was mesmerizing. It had its kitchy moments, but the cast over shadow those minor disappointments. Loads of talent. Will probabaly see it again.
Posted 20:50 | Fri 22nd Jun 2012 -
Pam
I loved this movie experience and so did every one of us in our group of 6! It was outrageous fun. After the movie people stood around outside the theater laughing and talking about the bits they thought were the funniest. During the movie the laughing was like laughing with the others there. Something special. I have been singing a Poison song all week.
Posted 03:37 | Sat 23rd Jun 2012 -
Twilightlover60006000
Brilliant,brilliant,brilliant!
Posted 15:02 | Mon 25th Jun 2012 -
Twilightlover60006000
Brilliant,brilliant,brilliant!
Posted 15:03 | Mon 25th Jun 2012 -
ZOS
I loved it The thing about this movie is its taken from a musical and may I add a musical that was out years before Glee DONT go into this film and expect it to be all serious its a fun movie with some really good rockin 80s tunes My advice if you like 80s music and want a good laugh go see it Tom Cruise is really funny and so are the rest of the actors 5 stars from me
Posted 17:04 | Tue 3rd Jul 2012
Log in to leave a comment
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here are those of the viewer and do not reflect those of Entertainment.ie. Entertainment.ie accepts no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for their accuracy of content. Please contact us to report abusive content
World War Z
Join us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
