
Oddly enough, it's Alec Baldwin that feels the most mannered in this star-filled version of the 80s-rock homage musical from 2006. The trailer wisely hides the main attraction, which is seeing Tom Cruise as a stereotypical 80s rock star, until the very end of the spot. The cast looks impressive, and kudos to New Line Cinema for not hiding the fact that this is actually a musical (it's subtle, but there are at least two shots of characters actually signing out loud). I happen to think that
Hairspray is the best film musical of the modern era (sorry, didn't like
Moulin Rouge and
Chicago is painfully overrated), so Adam Shankman helming this one puts it pretty high on the list.
Rock of Ages will be released on June 1st, 2012. As always, we'll see.
Scott Mendelson