Running Time : 123mins
Rated : PG-13
Cast: Julianne Hough,
Diego Boneta,
Tom Cruise,
Alec Baldwin,
Russell Brand,
Catherine Zeta Jones,
Paul Giamatti,
Malin Ackerman
Director : Adam Shankman
Plot : Rock of Ages tells the story of small town girl Sherrie(Julianne Hough) and city boy Drew(Diego Boneta), who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock 'n' roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake and more.
"Rock of Ages" is "Glee," just with much better hair.Rock of Ages works as a comedy. After all, the story is old and the songs have been played into the ground for years.The film in large part is no more than Glee on a movie screen, but its cast and comedy make it more fun than it may deserve to be.Despite the radio familiarity of the songs, the little-known pairing of Hough (who played Ariel in the Footloose remake and Georgia in Burlesque) and Mexican star Boneta (Javier Luna in TV series 90210) gives Rock of Ages a decidedly fresh feel.There are elements of fun to be had -- Brand's performance is actually surprisingly enjoyable, and Cruise infuses Jaxx with more self-deprecation than I thought him capable of -- and while I have no issues with Mary K. Baldwin, Cruise and Paul Giamatti, as Stacee's oily manager, are like the real actors showing the kids how it's done, and they help evoke the era, which is reimagined splendidly by production designer Jon Hutman, costume designer Rita Ryack and whoever did all the wigs.Rock of Ages also accidentally reminds us of the inauthenticity of hair metal and, even more obviously, the movie itself: talk about splitting hairs. Of course, for most musical-theater aficionados, the jukebox musical is inherently inauthentic: amusement-park theater pandering to the tourists.
The entire idea of a rock musical set in this time and in this place that doesn’t have an R rating should be a tip-off to how limp the content will be -- and for those that already have some antipathy towards the genre, their biggest smile will come at the end when they realize that, four years after this movie ends, Nirvana will come along and end all their careers.The film is so cheesy that it implodes on itself. It features some of the most nonsensical plot developments, like a strip club madam (which doesn’t and never has existed) who takes Sherrie under her wing, then coerces her into dancing only to later tell her she has to leave to get respect.
Running Time : 114 mins
Rated : R
STARRING
Adam Sandler as DONNY
Andy Samberg as TODD
Leighton Meester as JAMIE
Vanilla Ice as HIMSELF
Milo Ventimiglia as CHAD
Director : Sean Anders
Plot : While still in his teens, Donny (Adam Sandler) fathered a son, Todd (Andy Samberg), and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when an uninvited Donny suddenly shows up. Trying desperately to reconnect with his son, Donny is now forced to deal with the repercussions of his bad parenting skills.
Sandler is turning into another Eddie Murphy: He makes terrible movies because he seems to not care as long as he's having fun and getting a huge paycheck. Never mind that this movie seems conceived by hormonal middle-school boys hot for their teacher. Perhaps Sandler thinks no one cares if he once again plays an over-sexed "lovable loser" who can somehow bed any woman in his immediate vicinity.The shame of it, as has been noted before, is that Sandler is capable of doing better work than this when challenged to do so by people unwilling to let him simply coast his way to an easy paycheck.At two hours, the movie needs slimming and the fat is apparent. Thankfully, the main ensemble goes to great lengths to make the hard R comedy click, with Sandler and Samberg playing well off each other (although Samberg doesn't have the making of a leading man after this movie), and SNL alums like Will Forte, Rachel Dratch, and Ana Gasteyer driving by to bring the funny. Though this is a movie aimed primarily at guys, one can't help but notice that all the female characters are literally just sex objects, defined entirely by what they do with their naughty bits. It wouldn't have hurt to develop some of them a bit more
There was a time in Sandler’s career, not too long ago, where he was stretching as an actor even if he wasn’t making the greatest movies. Now, it feels like he’s given up. “That’s My Boy” is just another line in his career’s ever-growing suicide note.
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