It was only in recent years that got me stumbling across the term “karaoke musical” online. Perhaps because some musicals have decided to use popular music to fit into their scripts. It cannot be helped anyway with the success that Glee had, formats like this are expected to flourish.
Do I sound like someone that has given up on some musicals expected to Top 40 hits today to be the musical fillers of tomorrow? No, although I should have seen that ever since I’ve seen that TV series. On the other hand, I have to settle for the Hollywood version of one of the best hits to come out of Broadway lately – “Rock of Ages”.
More Like an Ode to Glam Rock
“Rock of Ages” is the type of musical that I might find myself into if ever I feel like singing along to the tunes used in the scenes. It’s not prohibited in the cineplexes to sing along to tunes (no wonder some fans of certain musicals ended up with an audience singing along). But the moment you belt out during “I Want to Know What Love is” and “Dead or Alive”, you would be a major inconvenience to your seatmates. Perhaps the same analogy applies if ever you decide to watch the theater version too.
Now if the tunes are specially selected with the old school rock fans in mind, some mash-ups would be expected. Not everyone likes it but once you try putting some of them in situations that played like a dialogue, you’d see the sense behind a crowd of rioters singing “We Built This City” with the opposite crowd singing “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. It looked surreal because as much as you expect some real passionate fans using song lyrics to voice out their concerns, you would be surprised to see their detractors use rock lyrics too against the same crowd that sang them.
It did not glorify rock music that much as it portrayed the seedy side of the industry. Enter Stacee Jaxx (played by Tom Cruise) as a rock star with the look of Axl Rose, bandana and all (at least in some scenes). He enjoyed making music and appearing occasionally at the Bourbon Room since it’s where his early days occurred, also as a favor to its owner, Dennis Dupree (played by Alec Baldwin), and his partner, Lonny (played by Russsell Brand). Then again he has this greedy manager, Paul Gill (played by Paul Giamatti), whose only reason that he can manage to put up with all Stacee’s antics is that he still makes money off of him. And if not for him, he could not secure an interview for the Rolling Stone via Constance (played by Malin Akerman).
And by this time, you have already noticed that I haven’t talked about the leads. I’m not sure if it’s because the leads are forgettable or the script wrote them that way. I find that to be such a shame since there could have been potential in their love story to be something worth caring about.
The Subplots are More Interesting
Some who have seen the theater version (with Mig Ayesa playing the part of Stacee Jaxx in the Manila version) would of course compare the film and the theater version – something I don’t recommend. I read the spoilers and realized that the film version took a different route in handling the subplots which still ended up more interesting than the main plot itself. Why? Because the folks behind this version must have thought (and I am just speculating here), that they can simply retain the hit tunes and people would still flock to the theaters despite lead stars that don’t contribute much to the characters.
In fact, the conflict that caused the break-up between Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and Drew (Diego Boneta) was caused by a mistaken notion or “maling akala” if you want to be more specific. Just because Sherrie came out of Stacee’s dressing room with Stacee zipping himself up, Drew thought that Sherrie cheated on him for a night with the rock icon. Even rock stars expect their girlfriends to be loyal to them too.
The closest subplot that turned out to be interesting to either lead was the fact that Drew’s promising career took an ugly turn – he ended up in a boyband because the manager he ended up with is Paul Gill. And Paul can’t market him enough to the recording big wigs as the next rock act to watch out for. So, with a contract but under pressure, Drew relented to join the boyband. How many dreams have broken simply because of managerial pressure? This is how ugly it can get when you end up with a manager that views you more as a product or commodity to be sold than an artist to express his music.
Now speaking of subplots, despite the over-the-top performance of Catherine Zeta-Jones (I remember discussing that here), she’s still the more interesting than the main plot. Besides, her character, Patricia Whitmore, seemed like a parody of some conservative politician you could think of. I read here though that she’s actually a parody of Tipper Gore, the politician’s wife that proposed to eradicate rock music. Did I expect the character twist? Of course I did. It’s the same expectation I get from every single conservative pastor that campaigned against gay rights …
“I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore”
… which brings us to the gay angle here at Rock of Ages, that duet between Danny and Lonny upon realizing that they can take their partnership to the next level. I found the lyrics “I can’t fight this feeling anymore. I’ve forgotten what I’ve started fighting for” because it’s only right. What are you fighting for? The conservatives? The expected image of one living in rock and roll?
Kind of disappointed to see one of my favorite songs sung with a lower register but let’s just given Baldwin and Brand some slack. They’re not rock stars. They tried to look the part. Too bad they can’t sound the part. But as a recently outed couple, they look believable anyway.
It’s also one of those realizations I have had while watching this film. 2 people are attracted to each other because they found something compatible to share with – something they realized that they can’t live without and that would be each other. It’s romantic in my point of view because it’s less about appearance or images to be maintained. It’s about finding a partner that you can share your life with. And because of them, I can never sing “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” the same way ever again.
What Creative Liberties?
Some of you may be surprised to see a negative review for me. I tried to like it but it just made me look forward for the theater version. Something tells me that the original script turned out to be better and it’s not just because I already saw the spoilers on Wikipedia. Perhaps because when a script needed to be dark and honest, that’s one thing you can expect from theater. Creative liberties be damned but the kind of creative liberties used in the film just worsened an already simply script – how rock-and-roll almost ruined a loving couple.
As for the film, see it for Tom Cruise. Not that I expect his singing to be at par with Mig Ayesa (oh please, let’s not kid ourselves; Mig Ayesa looked and sounded like a rock god), but at least he has a believable portrayal.
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