Rock of Ages

An Oklahoma girl (Julianne Hough) in 1987 Hollywood hopes to make it as a singer but ends up working in a club on the Sunset Strip and falling for an aspiring rocker (Diego Boneta). The movie version of the hit Broadway jukebox musical surrounds these appealing youngsters with stars (Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige) and flashy retro-rock musical numbers, staged with electric glitz by director Adam Shankman and choreographer Mia Michaels. The story is stretched too thin for too long, and an added subplot with Zeta-Jones as the mayor’s wife out to clean up the Strip does little more than let her in on the fun. Cruise (as an Axl Rose-ish rock star) and Blige (as a strip-club owner) give the best performances, and the driving beat keeps toes tapping.