I am not really averse to Hollywood musicals but Ive always felt that they dont quite entertain quite as much as their Broadway counterparts (saw Abba - was wowed).
With Rock of Ages comes a film that has already been doing theatre rounds over the past few years & has Tom Cruise in a bare-chested, long haired rocker avatar. Is it worth a watch?
A decent watch at best, it has a knockout performance by Tom Cruise & a few great songs to write home about.
Set in the 80s, Sherrie works as a waitress at the Burbon room but in actuality, she yearns to live the Hollywood dream. She is joined there by Drew, who along with her, harbours the same passion. The owner of the Burbon room (Alec Baldwin) is preparing for the big night as Rock God Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is going to perform at his watering hole.
The issue is that the Mayors morality enforcing wife (Catherine Zeta) vows to shut the Burbon room in order to clean up the Sunset strip of the head-banging filth. The film is almost a clichd love story with rock as a backdrop.
At 2 hours long and there are parts which definitely get boring. The contrived track of Catherine-Zeta Jones doesnt quite entertain & the same story could be told with a much crisper screenplay.
But even then, the pony-tailed fashion horrors, the rock scene of the 80s and the retro appeal of the film might excite many from the time.
Catherine Zeta Jones looks sluggish on-screen & is nowhere close to the hoot she was in Chicago.
Tom Cruise looks in astounding shape for his age & delivers a spirited performance that is the backbone of the film.
If you ask me, there are better films to watch this week & this one can be relegated to a DVD watch.
This colourful, noisy, vintage explosion is best watched by Tom Cruise fans.
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