‘Rock of Ages’ (2012) review; 100 Movies in 90 Days part II

#24 of 100 on my 100 Movies I’ve Never Seen Before Challenge (part II)

Musicals can definitely be a mixed bag. I grew up watching musicals with my mom and my sister. I can say for the most part most of them are the same, there are some that really hit home with me. “Moulin Rouge” and “O’ Brother Where Art Thou?” are a couple of my recent favorites because they both feature fantastic music but also great acting and stories that draw an audience in.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for “Rock of Ages”, although it tries really, really hard to be great. It just doesn’t try hard enough. The movie is based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name. The movie kicks off with a young naive girl, Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough), arriving from Oklahoma– although in the play she is from KANSAS. What gives, Hollywood? Anyway, she gets robbed by some thug and a bar back, Drew Boley from the world famous Bourbon Room comes to her aid. He gets Sherrie a job, they fall in love until he hits it big after his band opens for Arsenal and the legendary Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise).

The cast ranges from solid to awful and it reflects bit time in the performances. Tom Cruise is the real star here. His story about a rock God who has alienated his band and plans to go solo until he is put in his place by a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine (Malin Ackerman) is the driving force of this movie. It’s just too bad we have to keep getting back to Sherrie and Drew. They are both awful actors and every time it jumps back to them the movie comes to a grinding halt.

The movie is directed by Adam Shankman (“Hair Spray”) and written by Justin Theroux (“Iron Man 2”, “Tropic Thunder”). Shankman has trouble getting the most out of the actors who have little talent to begin with. Theroux’s script doesn’t help either. It’s loaded with cheesy, lame and ridiculous dialogue.

That being said, the “Rock of Ages” manages to be fairly entertaining and that has everything to do with the music featuring Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses, Twisted Sister, Pat Benatar, Def Lepard and many other rock bands from the 80’s. You can tell the actors are at least having fun. It’s just too bad they didn’t have better material to work with when they aren’t singing the kick ass rock ballads.