When life gives you lemmons...

...Rock on out, Janis Joplin would say. As my academic ambitions slowly crumble to pieces, going to see "Rock of ages" (2012) was not the disappointing experience I had originally anticipated. I am a lover of music (a classic-rock fan at heart, give me Led Zeppelin anytime) and a lover of musicals but I am not really into 80s Power Ballads by bands like Poison, Foreigner and Journey, and so was fully prepared to give a negative review of this jukebox musical screen adaptation. Yet, the film as a whole was surprisingly uplifting, even though the narrative suggests that if life is not going the way you've planned become a stripper (which to be fair it's better than going home).

The concept of the film is from the musical of the same name on West End and Broadway. Set in 1987, it tells the story of young Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) who travels from a small town to L.A to pursue her dreams. After her suitcase is stolen she meets Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), an aspiring rock star who is currently working at the notorious Bourbon club on Sunset strip owned by Denis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and his partner Lonny (Russell Brand). Drew manages to get Sherrie a job but things turn sour when Sherrie meets rocker and sex symbol, Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) and her and Drew split. Drew starts to follow what he believes is a path to fame, led by money-hungry manager, Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti), and he is forced to turn to pop music whilst Sherrie quits Bourbon and is taken in by strip club manager, Justice Charlier (Mary J. Blige). All the while Denis Dupree is worried about the Bourbon club going out of business, Stacee Jaxx is having an identity crisis and the mayors wife, Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is trying to ban metal (with a personal vendetta against Stacee Jaxx). In the end everything works out, the Bourbon survives, Whitmore gets converted to Rock music, and Sherrie and Drew make their dreams come true. Critics cannot comment on the finale of the film as it is hardly surprising; the film is made up of standard musical ingredients, which don't bake an interesting, luxury, à la carte dessert, but nevertheless the public will continue to eat up musical films- like they are a classic victoria sponge.


Admittedly when the film opened with a mix of 'Sister Christian/ Just like paradise/ Nothin' but a good time', I did wince. Its beginning, however, lets you know what's in store and either you accept this or you spend the duration of the film trying (but probably failing) to hate it. In addition, being directed by Adam Shankman, who has previously directed "Hairspray" (2007) and two episodes of "Glee", one knows that the film is hardly going to be 'edgy.' The film has comic moments and undoubtedly Tom Cruise loved playing an arrogant rock god due to his somewhat egotistical nature and is probably currently basking in the critics referral to the film as 'Tom's movie'; but the films awful reviews in The New York Times and The Guardian are really undeserved. The film is not trying to move away from the Hollywood formula and be 'edgy'- as firstly where would Hollywood be without it's adaptations of stage productions and secondly Heavy Metal was pretty mainstream at the time anyway. The film as a whole reminds me of the heavy metal revivalists Steel Panther, who do not take themselves seriously at all, so critics please stop being so depressing. The only thing I'm praying for is that Journeys song "Don't stop believing" doesn't make it back into the charts for a second time in the last ten years.

Some critics have said that the film is an insult to rock music but in my opinion the glam metal, hair bands of the 1980s were nothing but flamboyant and cheesy. The film definitely embodies this, thus the genre cannot be offended. In retrospect the glam metal fans of the 80s are a reflection of the Indie posers of the noughties (both genres are played in the so called 'cheese' rooms in clubs everywhere). Someday a film about the Indie genre will probably be produced and will claim that the genre reflected a generation (even though shit Indie songs, which all sound the same, are my personal nightmare). Let's face it, by 1987 the days of the 'true' rock and roll lifestyle that came out of the 1960s were coming to an end, and the eighties and nineties were a time when people were realising the damaging effects of a drug and alcohol induced lifestyle alongside a rising concern of AIDS/ HIV that began to grab media attention. This film manages to brush past these problems, and does not pretend to be anything more than what it sets out to do: entertain. The costumes are great and everyone is overstyled, the majority of the audience will know the music (even if you try to pretend you don't) and they will tap their feet along with the riffs, and finally, the characters are indeed stereotypical, but in musicals the characters don't need to be complicated- after all the key to a musical is the music, not the narrative. Therefore, continuing in the cheesy fashion of the film, "Rock of Ages" indeed offers 'nothin' but a good time' whether you take the film seriously or with a pinch of salt.

 

Director: Adam Shankman

Writers: Chris D'Arienzo (musical book), Justin Theroux and Allan Loeb

Starring: Diego Boneto, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Mary J. Blige.