joycebaker-401-57878

I'm 60, I want to have some fun, and this movie was fun. It put me right in the Bourbon Room audience, blithely wearing the tasteless and bizarre outfits that I couldn't wear because I was setting a standard of decorum for my kids in those days, and embarrassing them was anathema. It features a period of Rock (1987) when the genre was flanked by inane crap "music" aimed at the 13-16 year olds I was raising. Fortunately they didn't bite. This movie features the memorable music of the decade that my grandson is now still honoring. This music and that of the late 60's and early 70's helped me as a beleaguered working mom "Rock" through a day of commutes, housework, and culture shock. I don't "get " the focus on plot and antics that some of the more "serious" reviewers are stroking themselves with. I paid $8.00 and didn't fancy myself being at a rock concert or a stage play, but I got all of that feel and more. I would have paid $30 just to see Baldwin grunged, and desperate but hopeful. Cruise's character looked shaky at first. But as usual, in trademark style, he starts off blasé and then explodes into passion and surprise. Paul Giamatti and Zeta-Jones were fun to despise in their hypocrisy. Hough and Boneta were fresh, talented and beautiful. Mary J. Blige (Justice Charlier) was superb, and although I never "got" Russell Brand before, he was the most fun of all. Leave your pretense at home. PLOT!? Yada Yada. If you are pushin' or draggin' 60, go pig out on some Italian and party with "Rock of Ages".