Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Julianne Hough | ... | Sherrie Christian | |
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Dakota Sage Grant | ... | Little Girl on Bus |
Matthew Rush Sullivan | ... | Random Guy (as Matt Sullivan) | |
Diego Boneta | ... | Drew Boley | |
Russell Brand | ... | Lonny | |
Alec Baldwin | ... | Dennis Dupree | |
Erica Frene | ... | Beth | |
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Michael Olusczak | ... | Crook |
Tony Bellissimo | ... | Rocker Thief (as Anthony Bellissimo) | |
Shane Hartline | ... | Bartender Jimmy (as Alan Shane Hartline) | |
James Martin Kelly | ... | Doug Flintlock | |
Bryan Cranston | ... | Mike Whitmore | |
Catherine Zeta-Jones | ... | Patricia Whitmore | |
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Celina Beach | ... | Mayor's Secretary |
Angelo Valderrama | ... | Chico (as Angelo Donato Valderrama) |
1987. Naive Sherrie Christian has just arrived in Hollywood from Tulsa looking to become a rock star. She is just like Drew Boley was when he first arrived in Hollywood, he, now the Hollywood veteran, who works as a bar back at the Bourbon Club, known as the center of the rock scene in town and the place where many of the biggest acts in rock got their big break. The two meet as Drew helps Sherrie with a situation when she first arrives in town. Despite Dennis Dupree, the Bourbon's owner/manager, not liking to hire people like Drew or Sherrie - someone who has musical aspirations - as service staff, Drew is able to convince Dennis and his assistant Lonny to hire Sherrie as a server, Drew and Sherrie who have a blossoming mutual attraction. Dennis and Lonny, who are having financial difficulties, are able to convince rock star Stacee Jaxx, the perpetually stoned front man for the band Arsenal who got his first break performing at the Bourbon, to perform for free at a benefit concert at... Written by Huggo
While perhaps overlong, the film is packed with rocking music and a game cast that keeps the energy going and you'll be hard pressed not to be swept up in it. It's loud and over the top but it embraces its absurdity that would normally have characters breaking into song at almost any moment feel unnatural to say the least. With almost non-stop music and most characters having a moment in the spotlight through a song, Rock of Ages is a perfectly entertaining movie with a performance from Tom Cruise like no other that carries most of the film's laughs.
Noting the disappointing box office performance of the film, it can be credited to an unfocused marketing campaign that had trouble selling the film's admittedly flimsy and predictable story and not highlighting the main characters in the film, particularly as the film is driven by its two youngest stars. This would of given audiences something tangible to be attracted to. Instead it advertised through the cheesy line 'nothin' but a good time' packing it's advertisements with the stars and the music but never seeming like a 'must see' specifically considering the talent involved