3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, and quite generously, for sexual content, lewd behavior, profanity, revealing clothing and nonstop alcohol abuse
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 6.15.12
This film is a shotgun wedding of Moulin Rouge and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a bit of Phantom of
the Paradise (remember that one?) sneaking in from beneath the woodpile.
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| When club owner Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin, right) finds himself without an opening act for the evening's big event, new waitress Sherrie (Julianne Hough) suggests her boyfriend, Drew (Diego Boneta, background), and his band. Dennis' assistant, Lonny (Russell Brand), thinks this is a great idea ... but Dennis isn't as certain. |
At its best, the result is
raucous, exuberant and quite funny, notably when the tag-team of Alec Baldwin
and Russell Brand take the screen. But all that cheeky energy aside, Rock of
Ages sags badly at times; it’s much too long and self-indulgent. The third and
final act, when we finally cruise into it, feels more like the fifth; the
wafer-thin story isn’t strong enough to support all the glitter and musical
bombast.
The film is adapted from Chris
D’Arienzo’s rock/jukebox musical of the same name, which opened in Los Angeles
in 2005. A short Off-Broadway run eventually followed in late 2008; the show
transitioned to Broadway in the spring of 2009 and has remained a popular draw
ever since.
Sadly, that happy fate probably
doesn’t await this big-screen adaptation.
The time is 1987, a musical
breakpoint in terms of both art and commerce: LPs are on their way out, rapidly
being forced off store shelves in favor of new-fangled CD “longpacks.”
Similarly, glam, heavy metal and power-rock are being threatened by the onset
of grunge, rap and (God help us) boy bands.
Perky Sherrie Christian (country
singer Julianne Hough), seeking fame and fortune, departs Tulsa, Okla., with a
one-way ticket to Los Angeles. Her destination: the Bourbon Room, a landmark
but now dilapidated rock ’n’ roll club (probably suggested by the Troubadour).
Historically, the club is famed for having introduced many now-famous acts,
none more celebrated than Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), lead singer of the band
Arsenal.
But the Bourbon Room is in
trouble these days; owner Dennis Dupree (Baldwin) faces a whopping unpaid tax
bill. And although Dennis’ right-hand man, Lonny Barnett (Brand), insists that
rock ’n’ roll will never die, such pronouncements won’t keep the IRS at bay.
And as if this weren’t bad enough, Dupree and his club have been targeted by
Patricia Whitman (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the ultra-conservative wife of newly
elected Mayor Mike Whitman (Bryan Cranston).
Sherrie’s barely off the bus when
she loses her possessions to a mugger, but that’s all right; she’s just as
quickly “rescued” by Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), an aspiring rocker who works
behind the bar at the Bourbon Room. Just like that, Sherrie has a new job, a
new boyfriend and close proximity to the music scene she loves so much.
Only in the movies, right?
