Rock of Ages is a musical, comedy, drama, with a convoluted story of a rock club called the Bourbon in the 80’s, and the club owner’s struggle to keep it open. Of course it’s also the story of an aging rock star. And the story of two young idealists wanting to make it big in Hollywood. The story is weak and seen from multiple viewpoints, in fact more than what I’ve already mentioned.
But this isn’t to say this is a bad movie, in fact it’s an exceptional movie. It’s has interesting characters, it’s fast paced, has some of the best music from the 80’s, lots’ of noticeable movie and TV celebrities, is visually appealing and very entertaining.
The worse things about this movie would be Zeta-Jones singing a Pat Benatar classic. The politest thing I could say is her rendition was pedestrian and sad. She is no where good enough to do Pat Benatar justice. The other oddity was Tom Cruise’s performance. He plays an aging rock star, and it would appear his goal was to come across as a dazed and confused dog. He staggers around with his eyes half shut and head cocked to the side. Cruise makes obvious effort to stick his stomach out as far as he can all the time, apparently that is what stoned rock stars do all day.
I was very surprised to see the producer was Adam Shankman, well known for being a judge on the “So You Think You Can Dance” TV series. Considering his involvement with the Step-Up movie trilogy that I’ve panned, Rock of Ages is of far higher quality. It’s nice to see I personally don’t have to “only” associate his name with crappy bubble gum productions. It seems unclear on IMDb who the actual director is, I think maybe Shankman is taking credit for that, though there is a very long list of assistant directors.
This will be most enjoyed by people who spent their prime in the 80’s, as the music is the true star of this movie.
9/10
