Rock of Ages

Not only do I love musicals, but I also have a strong passion for 80's rock n' roll. Because of these two passions, the new rock-heavy musical "Rock of Ages" (an adaptation of the Tony award winning Broadway show) seemed like a match made in heaven for me. Throw in Tom Cruise looking like Axl Rose and belting tunes such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and I was on board. Well Sunday night I finally got to view-and sing through-"Rock of Ages" and, for the most part, it was nothin' but a good time (forgive the first of my several song puns).

The Bourbon Room seems to be a pretty popular place on the Sunset Strip. The film opens with Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) arriving in Los Angeles looking for a job which she quickly finds thanks to Drew Boley ( Diego Boneta) who works at the Bourbon Room. Of course Drew must first ask his two bosses, Dennis Dupree and Lonny Barnett (brilliantly played by Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand respectively) but after a brief argument they give her the job. And they will need all the help the can get with their big concert coming up. The performer headlining is the infamous Stacee Jaxx (Cruise) and the club's existence could ride on how well everything goes. Plus the mayor's wife Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is protesting on the Strip to shut down the Bourbon Room and eradicate all of the "sex, drugs, and rock n' roll." Yes there is a lot of things happening with the Bourbon Room, and how are the characters going to deal with it? Simple...don't stop believin'...in rock n' roll.

Stop reading this review now is you don't care for bands such as Guns n' Roses, Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, and Journey, because if so you are going to HATE this movie. However, if you do like this genre then get ready for a big sing-a-long. The musical numbers seem to never slow down with more than twenty songs packed into the two hour film (some of them are mash-ups). You will get to see every actor sing, even Baldwin and Paul Giamatti, and I guarantee that you won't be able to sit through the whole thing without singing a word or two...I couldn't.

But as prominent as the music is in the movie, Tom Cruise is the star. Hilarious, surprising, incredible, and so many other words can describe his performance. Cruise got into the heart and soul of his character. Add that to his great voice and rock persona and I will say that this is one of his best performances of his career. I had an even greater appreciation for it when I learned that he really does sing all of the songs.

The movie benefits from a slew of great acting. Baldwin and Brand are a hilarious duo with their crazy hair and deadpan humour, and I couldn't gaze at Giamatti's gigantic mustache for five seconds without chuckling (his acting was great too as always). But a supporting cast can't carry a film on their own, the two leads also do a fine job of belting it out and really getting into character. Plus, they all have great comedic talent, the movie made me laugh countless times even if it was at the hairdos.

But "Rock of Ages" is weighed down by some problems, primarily it's dreadful middle act. The film has a great beginning and end but a very slow and boring middle that is plagued with wondering plot points, pointless characters, and way too many "rock ballads." The other negative element is the insane amount of sexual content. Yes I know that this is a movie about 80's rock stars but still, the film really does push the envelope of it's PG-13 rating with it's innuendo, choreography, and "romance" and more times than not it was quite cringe worthy.

Sure "Rock of Ages" is pretty cheesy as well but really, would you expect anything else from a film of this kind? I can promise this, if you go into the film ready to view two-hours of sometimes cheesy dialogue, crazy hair/outfits, and LOTS of music you will have a great time with this movie. If not, then this will be two hours of nails on a chalkboard. But I was in the first group. I went into this saying, I wanna rock, and I did. I give this film three stars out of four.

"Rock of Ages" has a running time of two hours and three minutes and is rated PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language.