"So even if this ROSE has a few more THORNS than we'd like, never quite becomes a PARADISE CITY, and probably ultimately fails to HIT YOU WITH IT'S BEST SHOT, this reviewer JUST CAN'T FIGHT THIS FEELING ANYMORE. I liked this damn movie. 6.5 ypebeasts out of 10."
Full review after the jump
It's time to take on Rock of Ages here on the Beast and it's been a bit of a polarizing movie amongst the staff. Heading into it's opening weekend the prediction spectrum ranged from guaranteed turd to potential summer darling. Not surprisingly the film actually exists nearly square in the middle of those two extremes.
As Betty and I were exiting the theater, both of us humming different 80s tunes we were just treated to, here's how our conversation went.
Me: "What did you think of the movie."
Betty: "It was OK."
Me: "Just OK?"
Betty: " No, it was pretty good. It was good."
Me: "Just not great, huh?"
Betty: " Yeah, good just not great. I'm not sure why."
This conversation pretty much captures the Rock of Ages experience, it's a movie you should have a pretty good time viewing but won't come away overly attached to. The cast and crew brought the fun with them to the big screen, they just forgot to bring the heart.
Based on the Broadway play the movie is set in 1987 and is centralized in Hollywood. A young lass from Oklahoma comes to the big city with nothing more than a briefcase full of records, a pretty singing voice, and dreams of stardom. She gets hired at the famed Bourbon Lounge, which turns out to be in the midst of some financial turmoil. She falls in love with another young singer that works at the bar, but when her boyfriend gets his big break things get rocky for the couple. In between the fate of the club gets placed on the shoulders of an aging rocker who is soul searching, the very fate of Rock n Roll is in danger from the newly elected Mayors prune of a wife, and naturally we are treated to numerous musical numbers.
The problem with the movie is that the subplots that are supposed to drive the film while there is no singing or dancing fail to resonate at all. The young lovers tumultuous relationship is never fleshed out on screen beyond the two crooning over each other, therefore no one cares when the two meet at the summit of the Hollywood sign and have a conversation about where they went wrong.
However if you showed up for ROA looking for Romeo and Juliet or an intricate plot line full of twist and turns I'm not sure what previews enticed you to see it in the first place. They put the meaning of the movie front and center in the trailers, this was all about " Nothing But A Good Time." The sets were fun, the hair was ridiculous, the music was loud, and everyone on screen looked like they had a blast. The cast deserves a lot of credit for diving in and not holding back on the material, obviously the script was drenched in cheese, but they served it up with enthusiasm to spare.
Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand bring a great deal of humor to the film, and there bromance (and beyond) showcased a lot of chemistry between them. However they do fail to make you care about the fate of their storied club, if there hadn't been one mention of back taxes or closing down the movie wouldn't have been any different for it.
Read any review in the country covering the film and you'll find but one consensus amongst reviewers, Tom Cruise owned the screen every single second he occupied it. The 50 year old mega star embraced a role unlike any other in his career, and you could see the joy it brought him tackling the challenge. Never donning a shirt at any point in the movie Cruise was completely believable as an aging Rock God wallowing in the very empire he had created. He seemed equal parts Axel Rose recluse and early 2000s Ozzy Osbourne. He didn't really get enough time on screen to complete a fulfilling transformation from detached star to rocker with a soul but he came close enough in limited action.
An area where the movie was able to shine was the musical numbers, it seemed they managed to pack every meaningful rock song from the 80s into the 2 hour feature. This is where the movie has the potential to leave it's imprint on your movie conscious. I noted in the theater people bobbing their heads and singing along during various musical numbers. After 30 years of hearing these songs on the radio they can get a little stale but it was refreshing seeing them on the big screen presented in a new ways that reminds you how great many of them really are.
Ultimately a musical isn't for everyone and I'm not going to say this was a GREAT musical. However it delivered on the two things that the trailers got my attention with in the first place, rad 80s music, and Tom Cruise delivering a meaningful turn as Stacee Jaxx. I would never try and force Rock of Ages onto anyone because it's far from being for everyone, but if you can let your guard down for two hours and decide you just want to be entertained in a light hearted and over the top manner you can enjoy this picture. So even if this ROSE has a few more THORNS than we'd like, never quite becomes a PARADISE CITY, and probably ultimately fails to HIT YOU WITH IT'S BEST SHOT, this reviewer JUST CAN'T FIGHT THIS FEELING ANYMORE. I liked this damn movie. 6.5 ypebeasts out of 10.
This Shamisoshea guy seems like a total mark for Cruise...
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