Rock of Ages

Theatrical Movie Poster

 Rock of Ages is a 2012 American romatic comedy musical film directed by Adam Shankman. The film is an adaptation of the 2006 rock jukebox Broadway musical of the same name by Chris D'Arienzo.

Originally scheduled to enter production in summer 2010 for a 2011 release, it eventually started production in May 2011 and was released on June 15, 2012.

The film stars Diego Boneta and country singer Julianne Hough leading an ensemble cast that includes Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston and Tom Cruise. The film features the music of several 1980s rock artists including Def Leppard, Journey, Scorpions, Poison, Foreigner, Guns N' Roses, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, David Lee Roth, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, and others.

The film received mixed critical reviews, with a 41% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 208 reviews. However, Tom Cruise's performance was particularly lauded. The related film soundtrack also did critically well, certified Gold in Canada.

• Directed by: Adam Shankman
• Produced by: Jennifer Gibgot, Tobey Maguire, Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Garrett Grant, Dan Shafer
• Written by: Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, Allan Loeb
• Story by: Chris D'Arienzo
• Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Malin Akerman, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary J. Blige, Brian Cranston
• Music by: Adam Anders, Peer Astrom
• Cinematography: Bojan Bazelli
• Edited by: Emma E. Hickox

  

  Rock of Ages Trailer 2 Official

• Country: U.S.A.
• Language: English
• Running time: 123 minutes
• Budget: $75 million
• Box Office: $59 million
• Release date: June 15, 2012
• Distributed by: Warner Bros.

Plot

In 1987, Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) travels from Oklahoma to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a singer. Meanwhile barback Drew Boley (Diego Boneta) prepares for another night of work at "The Bourbon Room" in Sunset Strip, Los Angeles.

As Sherrie approaches "The Bourbon Room" in Los Angeles, her suitcase is stolen. Drew, who is at the entrance of "The Bourbon", tries to catch the robber, but fails. He comforts Sherrie and, upon learning of her situation, gets her a job at "The Bourbon Room" as a waitress. 

During the campaing of his husband, Mayor Whitmore, Patricia Whitmore appears on television

Drew also asks Sherrie out for a date and she accepts.

Meanwhile the mayor of Los Angeles, Mike Whitmore (Bryan Cranston), who's on campaing, presents his wife Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones) on television. Patricia Whitmore states on television that 'rock and roll' and its style of life is a disease for the youth, and she agrees to remove that way of life from the streets.

During their date, Drew confess to Sherrie that he wants to be a rock star but he has stage fright. Sherrie agrees to help Drew with his nerves on stage. They both start a romance.

Patricia Whitmore plots with his husband how to close "The Bourbon Room"

Meanwhile Mike and Patricia Whitmore are plotting to close "The Bourbon Room" since Mike needs the Sunset Strip locals free for other people. Patricia says to him that she will contact with a lot of conservative organizations to organize protests everyday in front of "The Bourbon". She also says to him that she will find if there are any irregularities at "The Bourbon". Patricia Whitmore's idea of making protests in front of "The Bourbon" became a success among all the conservative religious organizations.

• Patricia Whitmore convinces on a speech at a church to organize a demonstration against "The Bourbon"

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The owner of "The Bourbon Room", Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin), and his right-hand man, Lonny Barnett (Russell Brand), are trying to find a way to pay off a tax debt that threatens the club. In hopes of raising enough money, Dennis and Lonny decide to book Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), a rock star preparing for his final gig with his band, Arsenal. Drew and his band are selected by Dennis to play the opening act of Stacee Jaxx'x concert and, with the help of Sherrie, Drew manages to surpass his stage fright during the rehearsal.

Stacee Jaxx arrives at "The Bourbon" to play that night. But before the concert he has an interview with the "Rolling Stones" reporter Constance. During the interview, Constance mentions the rumors that Stacee is difficult to work with and implies that he was actually kicked out of Arsenal, a charge Stacee denies. After the interview, Constance lashes out at him, claiming that he was once a great musician but now is on the verge of becoming a has-been. Stacee orders everyone out of the dressing room so he can settle things with Constance privately and they both hook up.

After that Sherrie goes to Stacee Jaxx's dressing room to give him a whisky bottle he ordered. When she goes out of the room, Drew thinks she had sex with her idol Stacee Jaxx but Drew has to perform the opening acts.

After the successful concert, Drew break up wth Sherrie and sings with Stacee Jaxx's manager, Gill. Gill convert Drew into a pop star. After the deception, Sherrie decides to quit from her job at "The Bourbon" but, unable to find any other poper job, she stars to work as a stripper.

After sometime, Drew visits the Hollywood sign, where he finds Sherrie. Sherrie tells Drew that she didn't have sex with Stacee and that she is going home. She also admits that she has been working as a stripper. Drew admits his new act is actually a boy band. Sherrie and Drew both lament the situation.

During a visit to the strip club where Sherrie is working, Stacee realizes he has feelings for Constance. So Stacee calls the "Rolling Stone" office in an attempt to find her, but the receptionist tells him that "she is covering Stacee Jaxx’s show at "The Bourbon Room" and Stacee, unaware that he was supposed to perform that night, rushes to the venue.

• Patricia Whitmore and some people make a protest in front of "The Bourbon" before a concert
• Patricia Whitmore and some people make a protest in front of "The Bourbon" before a concert

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There, Patricia Whitmore protest is taking place at the entrance of "The Bourbon", but Stacee Jaxx recognices Patricia as one if his former gropies. Lenny proves it's true showing an old photo of her and Stacee into the camera that is covering the protest.

Meanwhile, Drew has found all of Sherrie’s stolen records at the Tower Records they first visited together. He buys them back and drops them off for her at the strip club.

The concert is about to start and the boy-band of Drew, "Z Guyeezz", start the show, but the rocker crowd rejects them, and Drew, spotting Sherrie in the audience, leaves the stage. The two reconcile and Drew also dismisses Gill. Sherrie reunites Wolfgang Von Colt for the opening act, where Drew performs the song he wrote for her. Stacee hears the song and is moved by it.

Eight months later, Stacee, who has rejoined Arsenal, performs the song with Drew and Sherrie, who is now part of Wolfgang Von Colt, in a concert at Dodger Stadium in front of a crowd that includes Dennis, Lonny, Justice, a pregnant Constance, and Patricia, who has returned to her rock 'n' roll persona.

Cast

- Julianne Hough - Sherrie Christian

- Diego Boneta - Drew Boley

- Alec Baldwin - Dennis Dupree

- Tom Cuise - Stacee Jaxx

- Russell Brand - Lonny Barnett

- Malin Akerman - Constance Sack

- Paul Giamatti - Paul  Gill

- Catherine Zeta-Jones - Patricia Whitmore

- Mary J. Blige - Justice Charlier

- Bryan Cranston - Mayor Mike Whitmore

Music J

ames Horner was hired to compose thefilm score in September 1997. For his work on The Mask of Zorro, Horner was influenced by Miklos Rozsa's score from El Cid. The soundtrack, released by Sony Classical Records and Epic Soundtrax, was commercially successful and propelled by the rising profile of Latin heartthrob Marc Anthony and Tina Arena. Their duet, "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You", plays in the closing credits of the film and was released as a single in Europe. The song went #3 on the French singles and #4 on the Dutch singles charts.

1."Paradise City" (opening credits) – Tom Cruise 2."Sister Christian/Just Like Paradise/Nothin' but a Good Time" – Sherrie, Drew, Lonny, Dennis 3."Juke Box Hero/I Love Rock 'n' Roll" – Drew, Dennis, Lonny, Sherrie 4."Hit Me with Your Best Shot" – Patricia 5."Waiting for a Girl (Boy) Like You" – Drew, Sherrie 6."More Than Words/Heaven" – Sherrie, Drew 7."Wanted Dead or Alive" – Stacee, Sherrie 8."I Want to Know What Love Is" – Stacee, Constance 9."I Wanna Rock" – Drew, Wolfgang Von Colt 10."Pour Some Sugar on Me" – Stacee Jaxx

11."Harden My Heart" – Sherrie, Jaxx, Justice 12."Shadows of the Night/Harden My Heart" – Justice, Sherrie 13."Here I Go Again" – Drew, Paul, Sherrie, Justice, Stacee Jaxx 14."Can't Fight This Feeling" – Lonny, Dennis 15."Any Way You Want It" – Justice, Record executive, Sherrie, Paul, Drew 16."Undercover Lover" – Drew, the "Z Guyeezz", Sherrie 17."Every Rose Has Its Thorn" – Sherrie, Drew, Stacee Jaxx, Justice 18."Rock You Like a Hurricane" (extended cut) - Sherrie, Stacee Jaxx 19."We Built This City/We're Not Gonna Take It" – Lonny, Patricia 20."Don't Stop Believin'" – Sherrie, Drew, Stacee Jaxx, Dennis, Lonny, Justice, Patricia 21."Paradise City" (end credits) – Tom Cruise 22."Rock You Like a Hurricane" (end credits) – Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise

Historical references

The Mask of Zorro and its sequel The Legend of Zorro incorporate certain historical events and persons into their narratives. Antonio Banderas' Alejandro is a fictional brother of Joaquin Murrieta, a real Mexican outlaw who was killed by the California State Rangers led by Harry Love (portrayed in the film as Texas Army Captain "Harrison Love") in 1853. The confrontation in the film takes place more than a decade earlier, in 1841. Murrieta's right-hand man Three-Fingered Jack was also defeated by Love as in the film; however, the real person was a Mexican named Manuel Garcia rather than an Anglo-American. As he did in the movie, the actual Harry Love preserved both Murrieta's head and Jack's hand in large, alcohol-filled glass jars. The opening sequence is set during the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, then most of the film plot is set in the earlier years prior to the Mexican-American War. Plus, an original ending on the DVD includes an appearance by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who is only mentioned in the finished film.

Reception

Based on 69 reviews counted by Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of the critics enjoyed The Mask of Zorro with an average score of 7.1/10. Metacritic received an average score of 63/100, based on 22 reviews collected.

Richard Schickel of Time magazine praised Zorro as a summer blockbuster that pays tribute to the Classical Hollywood cinema swashbuckler films. "The action in this movie, most of which takes the form of spectacular stunt work performed by real, as opposed to digitized, people," Schickel continued, "is motivated by simple, powerful emotions of an old-fashioned and rather melodramatic nature." Zorro exceeded Roger Ebert's expectations, who was surprised by the screenplay's display of traditional film craftsmanship. "It's a reminder of the time when stunts and special effects were integrated into stories, rather than the other way around." Ebert later called The Mask of Zorro "probably the best Zorro movie ever made."

Despite giving credit to Anthony Hopkins for his masculine portrayal of an older Zorro, Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, found the that the actor's "performance presents a slight problem: The film asks us to believe that no one has figured out that Zorro and his real-life persona are the same person, even though they are the only guys in Mexico who talk with a British accent." Todd McCarthy of Variety found the film's length to be "somewhat overlong" and lacking "the snap and concision that would have put it over the top as a bang-up entertainment, but it's closer in spirit to a vintage Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power swashbuckler than anything that's come out of Hollywood in quite some time."

In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers criticized the casting choices for the Mexican roles, which included Banderas, a Spaniard, as well as Hopkins and Zeta-Jones, who are both Welsh. Disappointed with the film's entertainment value, Travers also expected the film to be a failure with audiences. Internet reviewer James Bererdinelli compared the tone and style of The Mask of Zorro to producer Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. "While The Mask of Zorro isn't on the same level, it's not an altogether ridiculous comparison. Even though Zorro doesn't feature the non-stop cliffhanger adventure of Raiders," Berardinelli continued, "there's still plenty of action, tumult, and derring-do." He was undecided whether the film would be a box office success, and that it would depend on the on-screen chemistry between Banderas and Zeta-Jones.

In one of the film's most popular scenes, Alejandro renders Eléna topless with a flurry of sword slashes. One critic placed it on his list of "Erotic [Film] Scenes in the 90s", and in a 2006 E! television special, both Banderas and Zeta-Jones professed experiencing arousal during its filming; he by her beauty, and she by his character's innovative way of stripping her character.

Box office:

The Mask of Zorro was released in the United States on July 17, 1998 in 2,515 theaters, earning $22,525,855 in its opening weekend. The film dropped from its number one position in the second week with the releases of Saving Private Ryan and There's Something About Mary. The Mask of Zorro eventually earned $94,095,523 in domestic totals, and $156,193,000 in foreign countries, coming to a worldwide total of $250,288,523. With the commercial success of the film, Sony sold the TV rights of Zorro for $30 million in a joint deal to CBS and TBS.