Rock of Ages

The genre of musicals are probably one of the oldest in Hollywood history. From 1928's "The Jazz Singer" to "The Ziegfield Follies" to 1965's "Sound of Music" to the 1968's "Funny Girl" to '70's "Cabaret" to 2002's "Chicago" to 2010's "Burlesque", we've seen quite an evolution as audiences evolve. So too, with "Rock of Ages", as audiences become grittier, harder this kind of musical will follow suit.

Set in 1987 Los Angeles, Hollywood to be exact, Drew (Diego Boneta) and Sherrie (Julianne Hough) are two young people chasing their dreams in the big city. They meet outside The Bourbon, the club Drew works, and fall in love at first sight. Drew gets her a job by asking his boss, Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) to help her. He reluctantly agrees after Lonny (Russell Brand) mentions that one of the waitresses quit.
That very night is to be the night to beat all nights in that Dennis has booked Arsenal with Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) for their last performance before Jaxx goes out solo. The problem is getting him to the club, because he's drunk and spoiled which drives his agent, Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti) crazy. Then Dennis has to deal with conservative, Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and the church ladies across the street for the 'indecencies' going on at the club. Will Drew and Sherrie survive all the challenges that their romance has and still do what it takes to work at the club and more importantly work toward their dreams?

Others to round out the cast are Malin Ackerman as Constance Sack, reporter of Rolling Stone magazine, Bryan Cranston as Mike Whitmore, Patricia's husband who is running for mayor, Mary J. Blige as Justice Charlier, Erica Frene as Beth, James Martin Kelly as Doug Flintlock, and Alan Shane Hartline as bartender Jimmy.

This was effectively directed by Adam Shankman ("The Wedding Planner" '01, "A Walk to Remember" '02, "The Pacifier" '05, "Hairspray" '07, "Bedtime Stories" '08). This guy does light fare very well hence his resume, so it's no surprise that this project wasn't a tough stretch for Shankman. It was written by Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, and Allan Loeb based on D'Arienzo's musical book.

The choreography was brilliantly executed by Mia Michaels and Shankman. Shankman has a ton of choreography credits to his name so it really helped. And the theatrical lighting design by Mike Baldassari made this look so much like more like a rock concert you were viewing.

Acting wise, Diego Boneto as Drew quite literally saved this production. He gave so much pathos as this bar-back trying to make it as a musician in a world that is pathetically competitive. Where this got a little old was it was about a young girl coming from a small town to make it big as a singer in the big city. Where have we seen this? Let's see-- "Chicago" '02, where Roxie (Renee Zellweger) goes to Chicago to make big as a singer and then there's "Burlesque" '10, where Ali (Christina Aguilera) goes to L.A. to make it big as a singer. Sound familiar? Tom Cruise was decent as Jaxx, didn't know he sang, this wasn't a stretch of acting for Giamatti and Alec Baldwin basically played Alec Baldwin.

It was certainly better than I thought, but it was a little long-in-the-tooth, and the storyline needed help. Production values were exemplary and IMAX would definitely give it that 'rock concert' look. If you like rock music and everything it stands for, this just might be the ticket for you.

Out of 4 stars: 2.5                     Rated: PG-13                      123min.