In a film that continually forgets where to focus, those nominal leads are Sherrie ( Julianne Hough), an Oklahoma girl fresh off the Greyhound in 1987 Los Angeles, dreaming of stardom as a singer, and Drew ( Diego Boneta), an aspiring rocker working as a barback at fictitious Sunset Strip music venue The Bourbon Room (think Whisky a Go Go). A role that should have been a tasty extended cameo instead has been built up to crowd the headliners, and frankly, they can’t withstand the competition. And in the Glee era of Auto-Tune, even his vocal prowess barely registers as a novelty. Instead of one great showcase number (Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”) he gets a string of them. The outrageously egomaniacal characterization should be a hoot, but in truth, Cruise’s quasi-mystical sozzled intensity gets wearisome.
STORY: Alec Baldwin Talks About His Gay Kiss With Russell Brand at ‘Rock of Ages’ Premiere First seen in bejeweled leonine codpiece, assless chaps and some elaborate ink, emerging from beneath a blanket of hot groupies, he channels Axl Rose as Stacee Jaxx, an out-of-control rock god rarely separated from a bottle of scotch or from the monkey sidekick he calls Hey Man. The main attraction no doubt will be Tom Cruise in another stunt performance to pair with his Tropic Thunder role. Only when the invaluable Russell Brand is onscreen - playing a droll variation of his Get Him to the Greek character with a Nikki Sixx makeover - does this bloated, gratuitously star-laden rethink come close to hitting the right tone. Working with screenwriters Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, who adapted D’Arienzo’s original book for Rock of Ages, the director has not found a way to translate the musical’s affectionately mocking humor to film. But he was handed more winning material and songs crafted expressly to tell a story, not generic anthems shoehorned into a jokey construct.
Shankman did a serviceable job on New Line’s 2007 screen redo of Hairspray.
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