by Jen Gore
Rock of Ages is the huge broadway musical that has been adapted for the big screen and stars talent like Russell Brand,Alec Bladwin,Catherine Zeta Jones, Tom Cruise all showing off their vocal talents and getting down with their inner rock star personas.
Rock of Ages is about a small town girl (livin’ in a lonely world), Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough), from Tulsa,Oaklahoma that comes to Hollywood in search of fame, fortune,love and music. But when her suitcase full of vinyl records gets nicked she gets offered a job by Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) at the Bourbon club, home of rock and roll, sex, and a lot of booze. Here she finds love,loses it and gets it all back but not without a whole host of famous rock songs and brilliant performances.
The soundtrack to Rock of Ages is fantastic and full of classics like ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’, ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ and a whole lot more, and they’re all performed by actors like Tom Cruise and Catherine Zeta Jones. It’s hard not to sing along to this film!
Tom Cruise appears as Stacee Jaxx, rock God and legend. He’s cocky, sarcastic, doesn’t give a damn but all he really wants is love and to find a song that ‘makes you want to live forever’. He also has a bitchin’ monkey called Hey Man. Cruise puts in a brilliant performance and surprisingly has some serious vocal talent and amazing stage presence as a rock star. Maybe Tom Cruise should have chosen a different profession? Either way he would have been sorted.
Lonny(Russell Brand) and Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) run the Bourbon club with subtle gay undertones but it’s their duet, mid film, that surprises and will make you laugh from start to finish. They’re a great comedic duo, playing off each other’s dry humor and whimsy.
Rock of Ages is a seriously enjoyable film that will make you want to run home and throw on some leather and lace and put your rock collection on full blast while you play some air guitar and back comb the shit out of your hair! This is how you do a musical with real music, take note Glee!
Film Jam 