Written by James M. Tate / 6/16/2012 / No comments / 2012 , alec baldwin , catherine zeta-jones , comedy , julianne hough , musical , tom cruise
ROCK OF AGES
It's supposed to be bad? Right? |
year: 2012
cast: Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise
intentional camp value: ***
There have been many really awful movies in the last couple years, so it’s about time one basks in outright cheesiness and winds up miraculously... entertaining.
Right off the bat we realize every glossy 1980's tune is more or less a daydream as blond beauty Sherrie, played by Julianne Hough, is on the bus to L.A. and everyone aboard, including the driver, shares verses of Night Ranger’s ballad Sister Christian – if you can survive this you’ll do alright. Sherrie winds up working at a nightclub called THE BOURBON, meets the boy of her dreams, and both want to be famous singers. This is a world where several actual bands don’t exist since our fictional characters have written their songs (from Def Leppard’s POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME to GNR’s PARADISE CITY to Journey’s DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’).
That includes primadonna rock star Stacee Jaxx… About to quit his longtime band he’s got one final gig at the club – but only if he sobers up. Tom Cruise portrays the eccentric rocker with a sincere yet ridiculously brooding machismo, walking with a slither and taking himself much too seriously. His scenes, including one in which Rolling Stone reporter Malin Akerman’s interview becomes a sexual romp, go on too long and it’s never quite clear what’s behind his erratic behavior. But when it's Tom Cruise giving his all, does anything else really matter?
Catherine Zeta-Jones savors the antagonist role as a religious zealot trying to shut the place down at all costs and she, like everyone else including club owners Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand, take part in musical numbers that never cease. Yet with all the glitter and glamour it’s Hough’s dreamer Sherrie that brings this corny fable down to earth; what little story exists, she keeps going. Reminiscent of cult musicals like SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND and XANADU, here's a project completely unashamed to be exactly what it is: a guilty pleasure.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
All Time Popular
-
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
-
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garr...
-
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
-
Cornelia Sharpe in BUSTING Year: 1974 Rating: **** Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, makin...
-
Mary-Louise Weller in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE ANIMAL HOUSE, directed by John Landis and produced by Ivan Reitman, stars John Be...
-
Kerri Green and John Candy in SUMMER RENTAL Year: 1985 John Candy, in his first leading role, plays a burnt-out air traffic controller ...
-
Robyn Hilton on STARSKY AND HUTCH Model/Actress ROBYN HILTON played Mel Brook's secretary in BLAZING SADDLES and turns up in an epis...
-
Robyn Hilton in Video Vixens the same year as Blazing Saddles: 1974 The Anthology of Comedic Parodies, already done in several Woody All...
-
CADDDYSHACK is best known for the iconic leading actors: Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and Bill Murray, but originally the ...
-
Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...
Featured Post
RALPH BAKSHI BLAXPLOITATION-ANIMATION OF 'COONSKIN'
Title: COONSKIN aka STREET FIGHT Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2 After HEAVY TRAFFIC where cult director Ralph Bakshi inser...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.