(Analogy) Degrassi Jr. High is to Degrassi The Next Generation as Rock of Ages is to Glee
Cast: Within seconds you know which people were brought on as singers and which people were brought on as actors. The material is pretty flimsy when people aren't singing, but that doesn't account for all of how painful Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta are reading dialogue. It's hard to be too hard on them though. Tom Cruise is rightfully the big name here and he had the opportunity the Capt. Jack Sparrow this movie and make it his own, which he nearly does. It's fun (not funny) to see him inhabit this role. All the other people kind of feel like casting's second picks but seem to enjoy themselves and ably wear the hats they're given.
Plot: Let's play a game. Get your iPod. Now, look through and pick about 20 songs within a genre that you like. Ok. Take those songs and build a playlist with them but try to tell a story with it. Finally, fill in the gaps between the songs with no more that 2 minutes of narrative and exposition. Game done.
For those of you who played at home, the story you just wrote is a flaming piece of shit, no doubt. That's because this is hard to do. The movie does this admirably, but it also isn't going to remotely change anyone's mind to love or hate it. To quote Poison, this movie is looking to be "Nothin' but a good time". Mileage may vary.
Elephant in the Room: If I have to hear "Don't Stop Believin" as an emotional climax one more time, I'm going to flip out. Well, flip out. This movie is a pretty white-washed take on the hair band music of the 80s. It's a lot of the same songs you hear at a "hip" bar or club when they are trying to be "retro". I had pretty mild expectations for this, but part of me hoped they would surprise me with at least one song in the set list. Even something like "Welcome to the Jungle" would've been a refreshing deviation without breaking the formula. Oh well.
To Sum Things Up:
I'm actually surprised this didn't fair so well opening weekend. This pretty perfectly has all the elements that made Glee a mega-hit (for a time) down to the music selection. Once again, temper your expectations. Hairspray and Mamma Mia completely put this to shame, but it's a good movie to take a couple shots, gather some friends, and buy a ticket for. An appropriately boisterous crowd could make it a really fun experience.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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