Rock Of Ages

Though not a genre picture per se, its safe to say that Rock Of Ages is only going to appeal to a certain section of society, i.e. ones that love classic 1980's guitar rock.  Though you may be a bit put off by the thought of movie stars massacring some of your favourite axe hits, don't worry as most of the singing is more than acceptable. Based on Chris D'Arienzo's Broadway musical of the same name, the plot concerns southern gal Sherrie (Julianne Hough) arriving in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a singer. Almost immediately she meets Drew (Diego Boneta) a barman at The Bourbon Room who gets her a job there as a waitress. Though we follow their on off relationship as the film goes on (and their attempts to break into the music industry) there are also two other strands of the plot. One includes Alec Baldwin as the owner of the club and his attempts to stop it being shut down due to fiscal difficulties. The other, which has unsurprisingly been pushed in the marketing, stars Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx, a rock star on the verge of quitting his group and going solo. Though it is cheesy, the film doesn't take itself seriously in any way (I mean, how could it?) and overall its just silly forgettable fun. Plus there's plenty of cameo's both music (Debbie Gibson) and film (Eli Roth!) related for eagle viewers to spot. Director Adam Shankman (Glee, Hairspray and Step Up amongst others) knows his way around this kind of film with his eyes closed and moves things along at pace knowing that even when the script throws up some duff moments the audience won't care 20 seconds later when the next blast of Foreigner comes on. There are some serious bum moments though including Cruise and Malin Akerman in a jokey love scene in which they both appear so uncomfortable it appears to have been only shot once and Russell Brand, complete with a terrible Midlands accent that comes and goes at will, is atrocious as the manager of The Bourbon Room. Acting wise Cruise seems to be getting the plaudits, though he doesn't convince in the slightest as the sex, drugs and rock n' roll singer who's seen it all. Luckily the two young leads are excellent, both being able to sign, dance and play up their innocence as kids about to have their eyes widened by the big bad world. Paul Giamatti is also great in one of his usual slimeball roles (and even belts out a couple of lines!). Finally the terrible wigs that lots of the cast members wear seem to be cheap products from the local joke shop as opposed to Hollywood top dollar items but, hey, the 80's was the decade of horrific haircuts after all.....

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
If you're packing hairspray then this'll hit the right notes for you. Rating: 7/10.