'Rock of Ages' is "Nothing But a Good Time"!

Even though I belong to the 21^st century generation, I could not mask my “satisfied and had a good time” face as I walk out of the theater. The movie is set in the 80’s and what it did was covered some of the classic rock tracks in a glee-esque fashion—just that. If you are lured by movies like ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Footloose’, ‘Rock of Ages’ is no doubt a very good pick. However, if you don’t like musicals that seemed destined to be surgically attached to filmsy elements, I would like to warn you, now. The movie is not for you. But still, I walked out of the theater with my “satisfied and had a good time” face.

‘Rock of Ages’, almost carried throughout by a self-centered rock star played by Tom Cruise, is as contagious as a pandemic. It’s not the few “very good” films out there, but it’s a major dose of energy and good time.

Stepping her foot (right or left, the heck, should I remember?) for the first time on the premises of the city of angels, Sherrie (Jennifer Hough) takes his mind focused on reaching for her dreams and nothing else. In the midst of her daydreaming, her bag gets stolen and she realizes that Los Angeles isn’t filled with many angels after all. Soon enough, a man in the figure of her kind of knight chases the hooligan who stole her bag. Alas, the two both failed in retrieving Sherrie’s bag. But what the two found was the two of them. Sherrie and Drew (Diego Boneta) exchange sparkly eyes and fell in love almost instantly. (PBB teens?) Drew convinces a bar owner to give Sherrie a job as a waitress.

In the Bourbon Room, the popular nightclub where Drew is the barback, the owner, Dennis Dupree (Alex Baldwin) faces himself a financial struggle. He and his right-hand Lonny Barnett (Russel Brand) stress out to figure what solution it may take to resolve their mounting debts. Here’s a good idea: why not invite Stacee Jaxx?? (Tom Cruise, who played magnificently and unexpectedly, sang fantastic) They seemed to have heard my suggestion, so, they hired Jaxx for some entertainment to go on. This is where the story has led to nowhere. However, this is the point where you become infected of the charismatic air sent out by Tom Cruise, too.

I might sound redundant with this, but even though I belong to the 21^st century generation, I still enjoyed ‘Rock of Ages’. It is undoubtedly contagious and your feet tapping on the floor is inevitable to stop. It has very likeable performers such as Mary J. Bilge who plays as a “mother” bitch to a strip club who gets connected with our heroine, Sherrie. Baldwin and Brand were amazing satiric duo and effectively drops some of the many stingy punch lines in the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays religious in this film, tries determinedly to bring down the Bourbon Room. I love her take in this. The two younger leads Diego Boneta and Jennifer Hough were very good actors although Hough seemed to be less than a singer. I’m not disrespecting her singing but her voice is a little out of the place. However in the case of Stacee Jaxx appearing in front of me, in a bammy-inch theater screen, is the trophy to my temperance towards the film’s filmsiness. “Tom Cruise is the living emblem of a true 80’s rock star”, my father would describe his performance to me.

It has obviously many technical stuff candidates for potentially complacent things and negativities many critics would have uttered such as confusing narrative and decreasingly striking plotline. But perhaps what the movie ticket was for was to learn that Tom Cruise has an infectious tone and a fantastic voice. Not to see some cinematic affinity-earner shizz stuff.

Energetic and motley, this 80’s set musical-turned-movie is a follow up to the successful ‘Hairspray’ which makers were also involved in this film, in terms of everything else…but when it comes to some powerful and rocky energy, ‘Rock of Ages’ is far more superior.