Director Adam Shankman returns to the big screen musical and brings us Tom Cruise in an unexpected role. Sidewalks’ Richard reviews “Rock of Ages.”
“ROCK OF AGES”
Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for “sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language”
Run Time: 123 minutes
Studio Synopsis:
Under the direction of Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”), New Line Cinema’s feature film adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical “Rock of Ages” comes to the big screen.
“Rock of Ages” tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Foreigner, Journey, Poison, REO Speedwagon, Twisted Sister and more.
The movie musical stars Julianne Hough (“Burlesque”), with actor/singer Diego Boneta in his feature film debut, Russell Brand (“Arthur,” “Get Him to the Greek”), Oscar® nominee Paul Giamatti (“Cinderella Man”), Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Chicago”), Malin Akerman (“The Proposal”) and R&B queen Mary J. Blige, with Oscar® nominee Alec Baldwin (“The Cooler,” TV’s “30 Rock”), and Oscar® nominee Tom Cruise (“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” “Magnolia,” “Jerry Maguire”) as Stacee Jaxx.
Shankman directs “Rock of Ages” from a screenplay by Justin Theroux and Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, based on D’Arienzo’s musical of the same name. The film is being produced by Matthew Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Grant and Jennifer Gibgot, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown, Hillary Butorac Weaver, Janet Billig Rich, Shankman and D’Arienzo serving as executive producers.
Rounding out the “Rock of Ages” creative team are director of photography Bojan Bazelli (“Hairspray”), production designer Jon Hutman (“It’s Complicated”), editor Emma E. Hickox (“A Walk To Remember”), Oscar®-nominated costume designer Rita Ryack (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Hairspray”), Grammy-nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan (“Dreamgirls,” “Nine”), and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mia Michaels (“So You Think You Can Dance”). The original score is by executive music producer Adam Anders and Peer Astrom (TV’s “Glee”).
New Line Cinema presents, a Corner Store Entertainment production, in association with Material Pictures, in association with Offspring Entertainment, an Adam Shankman film, “Rock of Ages.” Opening in theaters and IMAX on June 15, 2012, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDrkwgkO998[/youtube]
Richard’s Take:
Songs such as “Don’t Stop Believin,'” “Sister Christian,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You, ” “More Than Words,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Harden My Heart,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “We Built This City,” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” were the big hits in the 1980s.
In the 2012 musical film, “Rock of Ages,” directed by Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”), these songs and many others are squeezed into a 123-minute film…and I do mean squeezed. Almost every frame of this musical, based on the 2006 Chris D’Arienzo Broadway play, is filled with non-stop music. It’s not like there is no speaking moments, but the film felt like it goes from one song to another to another. There is a scene where leads Julianne Hough (“Dancing with The Stars,” “Footloose” remake) and Diego Boneta (“90210,” “Pretty Little Liars.”) do a musical number at the Hollywood sign and, without a moment of breath, they go right into another song. It appeared like someone took a playlist of songs from the 80’s and they had to find a place to slip it into the film.
There are many stories and subplots in the film. Like the musical numbers, the plots do connect, but very loosely. We have a small town girl (Hough) coming to Hollywood to make a career; she meets another aspiring singer (Boneta), who helps her get a job at The Bourbon Room; the two fall in love and later breakup; she becomes a stripper and befriends the owner (Mary J. Blige); The Bourbon Room owner (Alec Baldwin) and manager (Russell Brand) are trying to keep their business open; a talent manager (Paul Giamatti) offers a popular rock star Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) to the bar, who, off hand, got his start at The Bourbon Room; and the rock star has his own issues, including meeting a Rolling Stone writer (Malin Åkerman). Meanwhile, a conservative wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of a cheating Mayor (Bryan Cranston) wants to close The Bourbon Room and ends the city’s image of “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll.” There are other subplots, but these are the simple highlights. The dialogue is campy, especially from Hough and Boneta, but, lucky, their vocals are stronger.
Even though the film is overloaded with cover songs and storylines, the performances from the all-star cast are what make the film interesting. With established singers like country star Hough and hip hop queen of soul Blige (both previous SIDEWALKS guests), we witnessed some surprising vocal performances, notably from Zeta-Jones and Cruise. Who knew these two could sing? Baldwin and Brand are a good comedy duo, and they are one of the highlights. Unfortunately with so many cast members and stories, Blige and Akerman are wasted in the ensemble with unnecessary characters.
If you like the music from the 80’s, then you will enjoy “Rock of Ages,” as well as seeing some don’t blink cameos from “American Idol’s” Constantine Maroulis (also from “Rock of Ages” musical Drew), REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin, heavy metal’s Sebastian Bach, pop singer Debbie Gibson, Night Ranger’s Joel Hoekstra and wrestler Kevin Nash.
I haven’t seen the actual Broadway play, so I don’t know exactly what the big screen version have added or subtracted with characters or stories (in our SIDEWALKS interview with Shankman, he tells us about a character that wasn’t a part of the Broadway musical). As a film in general, I have mixed feelings. Basically, too many songs and stories. I think less would be better with some highlighted musical numbers and focus on a couple of characters; the film could have been a classic.