So I saw "Rock of Ages" today - my review *** spoilers ***

I have to admit I wanted to see it because I came of age during that period. I remember going to the clubs and fawning over musicans and trying my absolutely dardnest to keep my baby fine blonde hair in that big poofy hair. I was an Aquanet abuser back then.

In general I enjoyed the movie. The plot was weak but doable. The selection of songs and how they were used was interesting. You had to appreciated the religious women, lead by Catherine Zeta-Jones, singing Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take it". But the highlight of the movie, without a doubt, had to be Tom Cruise.

Let's start with what sucked. I realized that a movie about 1987 needs to find a way to appeal to kids today so they had this 20-something couple. The girl was fresh off the bus from Oklahoma looking to find love and stardom in Los Angeles. And like any typical movie where the small town girl goes to the big city (See "Burlesque" and "Coyote Ugly&quot the girl gets robbed of all her belongings. I saw that bad plotline before she got off the bus. But somehow the sweet boy who is a musician wannabe saves the day and helps her get a job at The Bourbon Room (a play on the legendary Whiskey-A-Go-Go, the real rock bar on Sunset Strip). I'm not going to bore you with the details but they could have had less of those 2 and more of the rest of the cast.

From what I read, the religious women were not a part of the Broadway musical but a way to add in some more talent and songs. It was a bit corny but well cast with Catherine Zeta-Jones as the religious wife of mayor played nicely by Brian Cranston. Zeta-Jones and her women are one of 2 antagonists out to get the Bourbon Room shut down and put an end to filthy music. The other Antogonist was Paul Giamanti playing Stace Jaxx's seedy manager. BTW who would have thought Giamanti could sing but he does play slime really well.

The other interesting pair in the movie was the club owner played by Alec Baldwin and his sidekick which was Russell Brand. I'll be honest, I had thought the club owner was poorly cast probably from being a '30 Rock' fan and so use to seeing Baldwin as a suit. But as the movie progressed I really started to buy into the part that Baldwin played (and yes he sings) and towards the end of the movie we had a lovely twist that had the audience quite surprised.

But lets face it - the person that most folks wanted to see was Tom Cruise. This was definitely an unexpected role for Cruise, a man use to playing the lead role and romantic lead. If you look back at Tom Cruise's acting history you'll find that some of his most memorable roles are not the lead ones but the supporting player and usually someone who comes across as a bit of an asshole. That would include parts he had in "Rain Man", "Magnolia" and one of my favorite's "Tropic Thunder" (who recognized him as the Movie Mogul?). What was amazing is that Cruise has to be hitting 50 soon and here he was playing a 30-something primadonna rock god of a hard hitting 80s Metal Band and let me tell you this - he owned it. Not just his singing, which was pretty darn good, but the image he portrayed was WOWZA! He was to play this rock legend filled of himself and it was a grand slam. I'd ALMOST go see the movie again in the theaters but I really don't want to sit thru that corny love-story but I may get the BlueRay so I can watch it again without teeny boppers. And btw, this could be another Oscar nomination for Cruise - I thought it was that well done!