Rock of Ages

"This place is about to become a sea of sweat, ear-shattering music and puke."

Sherrie Christian (Hough) goes to Hollywood to get her big break as a singer, but gets mugged on her first day.  She meets Drew Boley (Boneta), who works at the notorious rock club The Bourbon Club, who gets her a job at the club.

The club is struggling financially, but owner Dennis Dupree (Baldwin) finds a way to break even, when the band Arsenal decide to use the club for their final performance.  As Dennis and manager Lonny (Brand) celebrate, the new city mayor (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Patricia (Zeta-Jones) begin a campaign to rid the city of The Bourbon Club.  The fate of the club lies in the hands of unreliable rocker, Stacee Jax (Cruise), the lead singer of Arsenal.  Will rock and roll prevail, or will the club be demolished?


The film was based on the 2007 Broadway jukebox musical, featuring classic rock songs from the 1980s.  The show was popular enough to get Hollywood's attention.  Adam Shankman, who brought Broadway's beloved Hairspray to film, is an interesting choice for director.  The show is funny, but has a dark side... which did not translate in Shankman's version of the film.  And he chose to cast well-known actors, with the exception of Mary J. Blige, instead of people who are known to do both (although, Julianne Hough and Catherine Zeta-Jones have recently appeared in film musicals).

But I have a few questions:

1) Why change the story?  It waters down the story, gets rid of several beloved characters and adds other characters.  The changes are big enough to change the overall message and tone of the story.

2) Why not cast anyone from any version of the stage show?  Mitchell Jarvis originated the role of Lonny, but was replaced by Russell Brand?  In what world does that make sense?  And I would have loved to see Will Swenson return to the role of Stacee Jax.  Yes, there is nothing wrong with recasting and adding bigger stars to get a larger audience... but you could still cast some theatre actors to fill the roles.

3) What purpose does Bryan Cranston's character serve?

4) Is there a reason that some songs from the show were replaced for the film?  I assume it has to do with copyright issues...

As I write this review, I am listening to the Broadway soundtrack for Rock of Ages... which is awesome.  I enjoyed the film, and will probably listen to it at some point.  Now I want to see the show, which I assume will be far superior to the film (which is normal for musicals).

Rock of Ages (2012) 123 minutes
Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Julianne Hough as Sherrie Christian
Diego Boneta as Drew Boley
Russell Brand as Lonny Barnett
Paul Giamatti as Paul Gill
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Patricia Whitmore
Malin Akerman as Constance Sack
Mary J. Blige as Justice Charlier
Alec Baldwin as Dennis Dupree
Tom Cruise as Stacee Jax