Rock of Ages (2012)

Director: Adam Shankman

Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise

A small-town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams.

The premise is all too familiar: boy meets girl, they fall in love, something happens and they drift apart, get back together again and live happily ever after. Yup, we’ve seen this a thousand times before. However, ‘Rock of Ages’ tells this story to the soundtrack of thumping rock music, and its awesome!

If not for the story, watch ‘Rock of Ages’ for the selection of awesome rock songs from the 80’s, perfectly selected to tell the story. (See how many rock songs you can count! Securing the rights to use all the music must have been a daunting task!). The fusion of different tracks into one song was just stunning. This is a movie you can’t help but watch at loud volume – if you’re a fan of 80’s rock music, like me, off course!

There was nothing special about the acting, but then again you also don’t expect too much performance-wise from this film, which was aimed at rocking you instead of offering award winning performances. Also considering this is a comedy not to be taken seriously, it was perfectly acceptable. I also loved the discreet – and the not so discreet – sexual connotations.

‘Rock of Ages’ can be considered an anthem to lovers of rock music, and you will be entertained!!

‘Rock of Ages’ received several award nominations, including a Grammy Award nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media. Unfortunately – at the box office – it only earned $59.4 million on a $75 million budget.

Would I watch it again? Hell, yeah!