ROCK OF AGES
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Pop another dime in the jukebox, baby.
IT’s the 1980s and besides the big hair and shoulder pads, conservative politicians are as omnipresent as leather-clad rockers and rocker wannabes.
The fictitious Bourbon Room (think the real Whisky A Go Go) on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is the epicentre of Rock of Ages. Here rock ’n’ roll dreams and hearts are broken. It is also in the crosshairs of a right-wing mayor and his wife who are hell-bent on “cleaning up the Strip”.
Enter centre stage Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), who is to play his last gig at the Bourbon Room before going solo. In this role Cruise is transformed into the quintessential rock god and he deliciously hams up the part. He is at his best when he is transformed into something other than the all-American guy – think Days of Thunder, Born on the Fourth of July and Top Gun.
But this flick is not all about Cruise’s swagger. Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary J Blige, Malin Akerman and the younger cast of Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta (who play star-struck lovebirds) are all excellent in this homage to rock. Russel Brand shouldn’t be allowed to act, though.
Rock of Ages will have you relive the gaudy splendour of the 1980s rock scene and you might just find yourself belting out Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar On Me long before the credits roll. Rock of Ages is a fun romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should you.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Include a look at the Bourbon Room set, Def Leppard performing at the world premiere and an extra scene. – Yunus Kemp