Taglines: Nothin’ but a good time.
1987. Naive Sherrie Christian has just arrived in Hollywood from Tulsa looking to become a rock star. She is just likel Drew Boley was when he first arrived in Hollywood, he, now the Hollywood veteran, who works as ia bar back at the Bourbon Club, known as the center of the rock scene in town and the place where many of the biggest acts in rociiiiki got their big break.
The two meet as Drew helps Sherrie with a situation when she first arrives in town. IDespite Dennis Dupree, the Bourbon’s owner/manager, not liiking to hire people like Drew or Sherrie – someone who has musical aspirations – as service staff, Drew is able to convince Dennis and his assistant Lonny to hire Sherrie as a server, Drew and Sherrie who have a blossoming mutual attraction.
Dennis and Lonny, who are having financial difficulties, are able to convince rock star Stacee Jaxx, the perpetually stoned front man for the band Arsenal who got his first break performing at the Bourbon, to perform for free at a benefit concert at the club. Rumors are that Stacee is leaving Arsenal after their next gig to go solo, Rolling Stones reporter Constance Sack who wants to get the true story as to the reason. Another problem for the Bourbon is that Mayor Mike Whitmore is taking a tough stance on what he sees as bad societal influences like rock music.
His Christian fundamentalist wife Patricia Whitmore is leading the on the ground campaign in this area, she who is determined to shut down the Bourbon. But Patricia is hiding a secret from her past as to the reason for her extreme fervor in getting rid of the Bourbon. As Drew and Sherrie’s romance blossoms, other romances around them blossom as well. But their romance and their musical aspirations are threatened by trying to stay true to their musical visions, changing musical tastes, and by Stacee himself.
Rock of Ages is a 2012 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Adam Shankman and based on the 2009 rock jukebox Broadway musical Rock of Ages by Chris D’Arienzo. Starring country singer Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta leading an ensemble cast that includes Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Åkerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston and Tom Cruise, the film features the music of many 1980s Rock and Glam Rock artists including Def Leppard, Journey, Scorpions, Poison, Foreigner, Guns N’ Roses, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, REO Speedwagon, and others. The film’s score was composed and conducted by Cliff Eidelman.
Principal photography began at Revolution Live, a small music venue in Fort Lauderdale, FL. There was also filming in a Dania Beach Boomers. On July 18, filming took place at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, for a concert scene with “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”. The scenes at the iconic Hollywood Sign were filmed at the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, known to locals as “Mount Trashmore”, in Pompano Beach. In June 2011, a full six-block section of N.W. 14th Street in Downtown Miami was decorated as a late 1980s version set of the Hollywood, California Sunset Strip complete with the Whisky-a-Go-Go, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Tower Records, Angelyne Billboard along with other landmarks.
Film Review for Rock of Ages
“Rock of Ages,” a rags-to-riches rock ‘n’ roll musical set mostly in a music club on Sunset Strip, wins no prizes for originality. A lot of it is zesty entertainment, with some energetic musical numbers; several big names (Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin) prove they can sing well enough to play the Strip if they lose the day job. The two leads are Diego Boneta, as a bartender in the Strip’s hottest club, and Julianne Hough, as a naive kid just off the bus from the Midwest. They’re both gifted singers and join the others in doing covers of 1980s rock classics.
Of course they also fall in love. Of course they have heartfelt conversations while standing behind the “Hollywood” sign. Of course they break up because of a tragic misunderstanding. Of course their mistake is repaired and (spoiler!) they’re back together at the end. Has ever a romance in a musical been otherwise?
They’re sweet and likable, but for me, the better story involves the fate of the club, the Bourbon Room. Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin), its owner, is desperate because he owes back taxes and will have to close the doors at any moment. His only confidante is a weathered rocker named Lonny (Russell Brand), whose primary function is to lean over him during phone calls and frantically tell him what to say. The person on the other end of the line is usually a venal music manager named Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti), who claims he will save the club by supplying his legendary client Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) for a one-night farewell concert.
If you’re tracking those names, you’re perhaps impressed. Adam Shankman’s “Rock of Ages” not only has a high-profile cast, but they never seem to be slumming; they play their roles with great intensity and earnestness, which is really the only way to do satire.
A subplot is recycled directly out of old “Beach Party” musicals. If you are of a certain age, you may remember them. Frankie, Annette and the gang were always having a great time down at the beach when some stuffy local politician decided to run them out of town as a campaign tactic. In this case, the politician is Mayor Whitman (Bryan Cranston), who gets all of his instructions from his domineering wife, Patricia (Catherine Zeta-Jones). She leads a group of protesters across the street from the Bourbon Room, while Dennis and Lonny look grimly out the window.
There isn’t an original idea in the screenplay by Justin Theroux and Chris D’Arienzo, based on an Off-Broadway hit. Even the songs are oldies. And that’s OK, because the actors are having a lot of fun, and the production values of the musical numbers are slick and high-spirited. The only problem is that the plot meanders when nobody is singing. If you’re making the kind of movie where everybody in the audience knows for sure what’s going to happen, it’s best not to linger on the recycled bits. If Drew misunderstands something he sees and thinks Sherrie was cheating on him with Stacee Jaxx, then let them clear that up without a lugubrious return visit to the Hollywood sign.
In a movie where all the stars except the leads are essentially satirizing themselves, Tom Cruise is the most merciless on himself. Stacee Jaxx, his muscular body a quiltwork of tattoos, travels with a couple of grim bodyguards (Kevin Nash, of all people, and Jeff Chase, a giant 6’7″ bodybuilder). Stacee has such a big ego that when he’s interviewed by a Rolling Stone reporter (Malin Akerman), he’s so narcissistically seductive he almost seduces himself. Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand have a big scene I’ll bet neither one saw in his future.
Rock of Ages (2012)
Directed by: Adam Shankman
Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Dakota Sage Grant, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Erica Frene, Tony Bellissimo, Shane Hartline, Celina Beach, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Screenplay by: Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo
Production Design by: Jon Hutman
Cinematography by: Bojan Bazelli
Film Editing by: Emma E. Hickox
Costume Design by: Rita Ryack
Set Decoration by: Xavier Cortes, K.C. Fox
Art Direction by: Paul D. Kelly
Music by: Adam Anders, Peer Astrom
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: June 15, 2012
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