Tom Cruise and friends perform ’80’s rock classics in failed cash-in on Mamma Mia’s success…

Directed by: Adam Shankman Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige

In 2008, a musical film was released featuring well-known songs by a notable band sung by an all-star cast of actors. The film earned over $500 million worldwide. This film was called Mamma Mia. In 2012, another musical was released featuring songs by 80’s rock bands Def Leppard, Foreigner and Bon Jovi as sung by actors including Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin. This film bombed, failing to recoup its $75 million budget at the box office. This film was called Rock of Ages.

Set in 1987 Los Angeles, the film’s plot focuses on Sherrie (Julianne Hough), a young optimistic music fan who has moved to LA with ambitions of becoming a singer. After being robbed of her belongings, she is helped by Drew (Diego Boneta) a young bartender with dreams of being a rock star. He manages to get Sherrie a job as a waitress at The Bourbon Room, a local club owned by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin). However, the club is in financial trouble and Dennis and his assistant Lonny (Russell Brand) hope to pay their debts by booking rock star Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) and his band Arsenal for their final concert together. However, news of the concert leads to protests led by Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the mayor’s conservative wife over the sexual nature of the concerts.

Sherri (Julianne Hough) and Drew (Diego Boneta) in Rock of Ages (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

Rock of Ages is not a good film and doesn’t translate well as a musical moving from the stage to the screen. The plot is ridiculous featuring too many elements that do not gel together as an entire story. Some of the songs in the film are unnecessary, with the plot is seemingly written around the songs, not vice versa. Lead actors Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta may sing well together, but the chemistry between the two is lacking once the talking begins. Besides the main story, the film feels underwritten. The film is written in such a way that the performances of Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who have their own plot threads, suffer as a result while performers such as Bryan Cranston and singer Mary J Blige are wasted in underwritten bit-parts. Tom Cruise is given time to shine as detached and disillusioned rock star Stacee Jaxx and delivers an okay performance along with a hilarious singing voice. The highlight of the film performance-wise has to be Paul Giamatti as Jaxx’s sleazy agent who will do anything to find the next money-making star even if it means selling out his values. He seems to be having the most fun out of the entire cast, even chewing the scenery on occasion.

As mentioned earlier, Rock of Ages was a box office failure, earning only $59 million against a $75 million budget. The film was released worldwide on 15th June 2012 and finished 3rd at the US box office after its opening weekend. The film was biggest film released that week, grossing more than Adam Sandler’s That’s My Boy, but Rock of Ages‘ $14.4 million was no match for the second weekend grosses of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted ($34 million) and Prometheus ($20.7 million). After a fairly strong opening weekend, the film only spent another week in the top 10 before disappearing, earning less Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. In the UK, the film opened behind Prometheus, Men in Black 3 and Snow White and the Huntsman, earning $1.5 million and remained in the top 10 for two more weeks before disappearing while also being overtaken by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. For comparison purposes, Rock of Ages grossed $38.5 million stateside and $4.4 million the UK. However, Mamma Mia! grossed $143.7 million in USA and $94.3 million in the UK.

Copyright (Ney York Times). This image is being used through fair use purposes.
Alec Baldwin as Dennis Dupree and Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages (c) New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Critically, reviews for the film were mixed. The film received a 42% consensus rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 227 reviews and a score of 47 from Metacritic (42 reviews).

The film looks nice and the cast do look like they are enjoying themselves butI can see why this film bombed at the box office.  The film’s bright lights are dampened by an overly-long yet underwritten script paired with songs that do not gel with the overall story. If you’re curious to see Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin singing 80’s rock classics, give it a viewing. If you are a genuine fan of this era of music, I wouldn’t recommend it.