Post by architect on Jun 10, 2012 22:22:32 GMT -5
VARIETY:
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:
SCREEN DAILY:
FILMORIA:
DIGITAL SPY:
DEN OF GEEK:
FLICKERING MYTH:
HUFFPO:
There's no doubting the impact of this Dionysian rock idol's arrival on the scene. Accompanied at all times by a pet monkey, a sleazy manager (Paul Giamatti), and various half-naked women, Stacee makes a decidedly, um, cheeky first appearance in leather chaps and satanic crotchwear, giving off a palpable whiff of sex and booze.
Channeling the likes of Axl Rose and Keith Richards with his tattoos, heavy furs and even heavier eyeshadow, Cruise clearly relishes the opportunity to play against type even as he sends up his world's-biggest-movie-star identity, displaying a cock-of-the-rock strut that viewers haven't seen since his turn in "Magnolia." And whether he's turning Jon Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" into a rebel yell or ordering his fans to "Pour Some Sugar on Me," the thesp socks over his singing duties with aplomb.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:
The main attraction no doubt will be Tom Cruise in another stunt performance to pair with his Tropic Thunder role. First seen in bejeweled leonine codpiece, assless chaps and some elaborate ink, emerging from beneath a blanket of hot groupies, he channels Axl Rose as Stacee Jaxx, an out-of-control rock god rarely separated from a bottle of scotch or from the monkey sidekick he calls Hey Man.
The outrageously egomaniacal characterization should be a hoot, but in truth, Cruise’s quasi-mystical sozzled intensity gets wearisome. There’s just too much of him. Instead of one great showcase number (Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”) he gets a string of them. And in the Glee era of Auto-Tune, even his vocal prowess barely registers as a novelty. A role that should have been a tasty extended cameo instead has been built up to crowd the headliners, and frankly, they can’t withstand the competition.
SCREEN DAILY:
Proving again his inexhaustible star presence, Cruise alone in the cast consistently transcends his underwritten role, throwing himself completely into Jaxx’s carnal magnetism. Slightly recalling his turn as the misogynistic self-help guru in Magnolia, Cruise in Rock Of Ages alternates between being a dynamic, arresting singer on stage to revealing a more loathsome, spoiled persona off stage. It’s a trite character, but Cruise manages to make it sing.
FILMORIA:
However, as exceptional as all the actors are in Rock of Ages one man stands head and shoulders above the rest. Tom Cruise is outstanding as Stacee Jaxx. As well as having an amazing singing voice, Cruise delivers an amazing performance as the neurotic, alcohol-fuelled, sex-obsessed rock star. As soon as Cruise appears on screen, you believe that he is Stacee Jaxx. His seduction scene with Malin Akerman, to the tune of Foreigner’s ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ is one of the most memorable highlights from the movie. His comic timing is impeccable, but his intense performance as a rock star on the, er, rocks is absolutely phenomenal.
DIGITAL SPY:
Cruise's turn as the addled, pectorally-blessed Jaxx is likely to remain the talking point, and not without good reason - at the risk of damning him with faint praise, this is the most fun he's been on-screen in years. You'll be relieved to hear that through voice coaching his vocals have improved since that Top Gun rendition of 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'. For fans of the Cruise canon, there's a - presumably inadvertent - homage to his role in Magnolia, when a young reporter (Malin Akerman, dressed as a Rolling Stone hack by way of kinky schoolgirl) comes to interview Jaxx and lays down some hard truths. Unsurprisingly, it ends rather better here than it did in Paul Thomas Anderson's meditation on misery.
DEN OF GEEK:
Thank God, then, for Cruise as rock God Stacee Jaxx. When he’s on, he gives Rock Of Ages a Spinal Tap-style push over the edge, a frisson that you wish could carry over to the rest of the film. His duet with Malin Akerman’s rock journalist is what you want the rest of the film to be – funny, sexually charged, and, like a perfect song, leaving you wanting more. Cruise just has to remove his sunglasses to create a wave of excitement. Mary J. Blige gets half a dozen song-and-dance numbers yet generates barely a ripple.
It’s inspired casting, especially when you consider Cruise’s next role is the about-face of Jack Reacher, a killing machine of few words next to Stacee Jaxx’s deranged, Axl Rose-styled showman. If only Shankman had carried this inspiration further down the cast list. Rock Of Ages is so tame for so much of its two hours that it needs the kind of spark Cruise brings.
FLICKERING MYTH:
The standout performance here is between two established actors - Paul Giamatti and Tom Cruise - a fascinating dynamic whereby the business is up against the artist. Staciee Jaxx (Cruise) is everything he needs to be - and you desperately feel the love everyone has for him. It is also much more than a 'supporting role'. The film demands an actor who is well-known and by casting Cruise in this role, he demands your attention - not only because of his iconic status, but he is doing things that we have never seen him do before. Paul Giamatti shows two sides - we sympathiZe with the difficulties he has in reigning-in Staciee Jaxx, but we also despise his greedy money-making ideals. Staciee Jaxx is how he gets his money and we can see he will do anything to ensure that it happens.
HUFFPO:
The director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) thought it would be a wheeze to have the world's biggest film star play the world's biggest rock star, Stacee Jaxx, and so it proves. He is a butt-clenching, cod-pieced and tattooed, wounded warrior, puffed up like a butterball turkey and strutting like a man on the run. In some shots, he looks like the long-haired teenage hockey player he was once, in others, he looks as rough as sticks, but he gives it everything.
And takes everything. After his first highly-anticipated rendition of Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive - note-perfect, of course - would you expect anything less of Hollywood's last samurai? - he obviously didn't want to surrender the mike on what amounted to a massive-budget karaoke evening, so we got the more reflective I Want To Know What Love Is.
By the time he motorbikes into the final set piece, it's hard to tell where Jaxx finishes and Cruise begins. Or perhaps Jaxx is Cruise's picture in the attic - the one he's had tucked away, saved up for the day he finally gives up trying to prove he's so much more than symmetrical beauty, and loses himself in something he understands viscerally - the weight of public clammer and expectation. And you know what always happens just when you finally give up trying...
This is not a film that's meant to be judged - or if it is, judged extremely harshly - and then enjoyed anyway. It's like listening to all your guilty pleasures in one secret iPod session on a rainy afternoon. It's Hairspray with knobs on. And it's going to make a fortune.