If you saw the stage musical, you will be wondering whether you will like the movie. I went with the same group of friends who went to the musical version with me last year. We all loved the musical, but the movie got mixed reviews. B & D thought it was okay, but D thought the whole Tom Cruise bit was unnecessary and she hated the Cruise-meister in it. E just hated the whole movie. I loved it. So that isn't helping you is it?
I think the reason I liked the movie is because it was basically my 'Big Hair Rox' double CD of 80s glam hair metal and power ballads, brought to life. How could I not love it? The only thing that could've made it better would have been a singalong version. So many good songs, by Poison, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Journey, etc etc. The only inexplicable omission is 'Oh Sherrie' by Steve Perry - the lead character's name is Sherrie for a reason you know! I kept waiting...and waiting... to no avail.....
Oh, there was a storyline? Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back. Yep, cliche city but not the sole focus. In fact, the Drew and Sherrie love story is sidelined even more in the movie than in the musical. Thank goodness they dispensed with the sub-plot about the German father and son looking to open a chocolate shop on the Strip. Sensibly the movie's writers and director realised you can't have an interesting movie if you follow the musical too closely, and they chose to expand in the area of exploring the Stacee Jaxx character.
Stacee Jaxx is a very small part of the musical, being the rock star who could revive the fortunes of Dennis Dupree's Bourbon Room venue which is sinking under the weight of poor accounting, crooked politicians wanting to clean up the Strip, helped by a protest by a Christian women's group. In the movie,the emptiness of Stacee Jaxx's decadent lifestyle and rock stardom are explored in detail. It's obviously a take on Axl Rose. This made the movie more interesting in my view, and I totally bought Tom Cruise as a jaded rock star. He looked the part, he acted the part and his singing wasn't awful (not great but adequate). He has a great scene emerging from underneath a massive pile of bottles, drugs, bedclothes and naked groupies!
The actors playing Drew (Diego Boneta - apparently the Justin Bieber of Mexico) and Sherrie (Julianne Hough from the Footloose remake) are pretty bland, but the support cast are great besides Cruise. Malin Akerman (fanboy alert - Silk Spectre 2 in Watchmen) is great, as is Paul Giamatti as Stacee Jaxx's sleazy manager, Catherine Zeta Jones as the protest leader with a secret, and Alec Baldwin as the rock dog club owner.
Yep, it's total throw away territory but an absolute classic moment of this movie that will always stay with me now is the duet in the movie to "Can't Fight this Feeling Any More" (one of the most awesome cheesy ballads ever) by Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand. I can't reveal too much but let's just say you'll never think of anything else when you hear this song on the radio.
Overall, I rated this movie 3 out of 5 stars. Whether you enjoy it or not will depend on how much you like the music - there is really not a lot of point unless the following hold a special place in your heart or past:
- lycra leggings (boy or girl)
- big, hairsprayed hair (boy or girl)
- falsetto vocals
- leg warmers
- stretchy belts
- leopard print anything
- power ballads with lighter waving
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