Rock of Ages: movie review (+trailer)
The hard-rock, heavy-metal retro musical 鈥淩ock of Ages鈥� might seem like a movie natural, but Adam Shankman (whose 鈥�Hairspray鈥� was a delight) never locates the right tone. You can鈥檛 blame him exactly. However you play up this material 鈥� as camp, melodrama, anthem, or goof 鈥� it sags under the weight of its lightweight pretensions.
Set in 1987, it features two leads of surpassing blandness, Julianne Hough鈥檚 Sherrie, newly arrived from Tulsa, Okla., to make it in Hollywood as a singer, and Diego Boneta鈥檚 Drew, an aspiring rocker who, all too fittingly, ends up in a boy band. (We鈥檙e supposed to think he deserves better.) What little scenery there is to steal is pilfered by Alec Baldwin as a Sunset Strip rock club owner and Tom Cruise as the strung-out rock idol Stacee Jaxx. Cruise is always at his best when he鈥檚 playing against type (in this case, against his own movie-star glam image). Paul Giamatti, as Jaxx鈥檚 sleazoid manager, does his utmost to give a real performance amid all the retro ridiculousness.
Warning: If you have an allergic reaction to songs like 鈥淭ake Me Home Tonight鈥� and 鈥淚 Want to Know What Love Is,鈥� do not venture within 10 miles of this movie. Grade: C (Rated PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language.)
