Writers : Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, Allan Loeb and Chris D'Arienzo.
Genres : Comedy,Drama,Musical,Romance.
Stars : Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin.
Review :
Some people will argue that 80's nostalgia needs to die. The music, the clothes, the entertainment, the hair. Some people just want to forget it all. I, for one, love the 80's nostalgia. I love 80's music, 80's movies, 80's cheese. It's endlessly entertaining. So, when someone took all this and wrapped it up in a musical, it was definitely something that piqued my interest. Sadly, I missed the stage production, but with the movie came a chance to see one of Broadways biggest hits in the new millennium. Sadly, it doesn't quite stand up there with the best movie musicals and the results are mixed.
Certainly, this is a fun movie, if you enjoy this sort of thing. There are good musical choices here, hilarious performances, and enough cheese to make a 50 pound pizza. But the film misses in certain key areas. For one, much of the music is performed poorly. There are some surprisingly good voices here in the leads and even in Tom Cruise, but the film would have seemed to benefit from some legitimate Broadway stars, perhaps even the ones who put on the Broadway musical instead of stuffing it with big name stars. In the acting department they all do a fine job, Tom Cruise in particular, who once again seems to be having wild fun as the big rock star Staci Jaxx. His performance saves the movie from the others, which tend to remain mostly ho-hum.
The biggest problem the film suffers from is the pacing. It feels rushed as we move from musical piece to musical piece. Granted, it's already a long movie at just over two hours, but the film feels so much like a musical that some of the enjoyment from the songs are is lessened. The performances are funny and kitschy enough that you can have fun, but the songs come out so erratic that you just can't have as much fun. I also have to ask Hollywood for one thing: please stop putting Catherine Zeta Jones in musicals. Her performance here is by far the worst. When she sings, you almost feel embarrassed for her. Certainly she's funny, but more so in the way you'd laugh about your mom embarrassing you in front of other people.
I might be a little biased towards this film, since I tend to gravitate towards this kind of cheesy fun, but Rock of Ages sadly misses a chance to capitalize on the fun of 80's entertainment. Everything about this just falls short. I am sure the stage musical is fun and now have a greater desire to seek it out, but the movie just doesn't do it justice. This is one movie musical that could have been a lot better.
Credits by cadillac20
Source image : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1336608/
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