  
Rock of AgesMPAA Rating:
 for sexual content, suggestive dancing, some heavy drinking, and language.Reviewed by: Brian C. Johnson Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Musical Romance Comedy Drama
Length:
2 hr. 3 min.
Year of Release:
2012
USA Release:
June 15, 2012 (wide)
DVD: October 9, 2012 
 
Relevant Issues
HYPOCRISY IN THE CHURCH—“I would never be a Christian; they’re a bunch of hypocrites.” Should I save sex for marriage? Answer How can I deal with temptations? Answer
music in the Bible dancing in the Bible How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer How can I decide whether a particular activity—such as smoking, gambling, etc.—is wrong? Answer Are we living in a moral Stone Age? Answer
Homosexuality
GAY—What’s wrong with being gay? Answer What about gays needs to change? Answer Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality
It’s a tale as old as time. Small town girl with big dreams and a song escapes her ho-hum life and heads to the big city to make that dream a reality. Along the way to capturing her star, she meets some ne’er-do-wells, makes some really bad choices, and realizes that her real dream was to fall into the arms of her Prince Charming, her Knight in Shining Armor, her dreamboat. Same old, same old. Young wanna-be starlet, Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough—“Footloose,” “Burlesque”) leaves Oklahoma with stars in her eyes and a suitcase full of autographed vinyl albums and gets off the bus in Hollywood. There she meets Drew Boley (Diego Boneta—better known for his TV roles on “90210,” “Pretty Little Liars,” and “Mean Girls 2”), a strapping young musician paying his dues by working at the hottest rock joint in Los Angeles. Yada, yada, yada, they fall in love and beautiful music together—literally, this is a 80s rock musical, after all (think “Glee” on steroids with a truckload of extra strength super hold hairspray!). As usual, their young love is tested by external forces; in this case, Stacee Jaxx, a rock legend, alcohol-guzzling womanizer, and otherwise tortured soul (masterfully played by Tom Cruise) shows up, and their love gets a huge test. Stacee’s troubles are also compounded because the new mayor Mike Whitmore (played by Bryan Cranston) and his wife, Patricia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) have plans to clean up the Los Angeles strip—which includes shutting down the famous “Bourbon Room.” As a fan of 1980s rock and heavy metal, this movie had me ready to dance down the aisles. The list of hits goes on and on, from the likes of Journey, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Pat Benatar and more. Sadly, in terms of the moral and Christian values presented, the praise stops there. Beware—the PG-13 rating is a misnomer. The film is rife, as one would expect, with overt sexuality. I would love Hollywood ratings makers to understand that just because a film doesn’t show nudity doesn’t mean that it is OK to be shown to young teens. Maybe that message should be sent to parents, as well. Surprisingly, the language was not as coarse as I thought it would be; it’s still not recommended for younger ears. One subject that pertains to Christian viewers is that of the influence of secular music on individuals and society. Jaxx and his fellow rockers are frequently called to question about the impact of their music—regrettably, the film pokes fun at the Christian community who wants to promote godly values. Once again, the Hollywood machine promotes the stereotypical image of Christians as nothing more than hypocritical and dogmatic. Patricia Whitmore and her cronies are gyrating Bible thumpers who lead double lives. All in all, while it was refreshing to see Tom Cruise in an atypical role, and an incredibly star-studded cast, including the likes of Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, and Mary J. Blige, each belting out songs in tune; the film is flat and predictable. It provides rocking musical sentimentality, but it is definitely not for kids. Violence: Mild / Profanity: Heavy—OMG (12), “Jesus” (2), “Oh Chr_st,” “Sweet baby J_sus,” “My G_d,” “G_d,” “Oh G_d,” “hell” (2), “d_mn,” “f” word, “s” words (10), “t_ts,”, etc. / Sex/Nudity: Heavy—numerous scantily clad people, a homosexual kiss between two men (including pelvic thrust), sexual lyrics, many vulgar sexual comments and actions Editor’s Note: Christian Spotlight™ strongly recommends you skip this film. As always, before deciding to view, please see the negative Viewer Comments below for further details.
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Negative
Negative—As a child of the 80s, I was interested to see how this song and dance movie would do. I was not ready for all the inappropriate sexual scenes! This film left my husband and I speechless. It was not at all the film we thought it would be, a tribute to the 80s and rock of that time. Save your money and buy an LP.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½ —Traci, age 45 (USA) Negative—I would not recommend this movie for anybody. While there is no nudity in the film, twice it shows bikini-clad women pole-dancing in a strip club. The film seems to justify a young woman turning to stripping just because she can’t make it financially doing legitimate work in Hollywood. Tom Cruise plays a rock star, sex magnet, and alcoholic on the downhill side of his career, to whom women have an uncontrollable attraction. While some viewers will correctly see in Cruise’s character the potentially tragic consequences of excess drinking, other moviegoers may be even MORE attracted to drinking alcohol, as a result of watching this film. While only the back of the woman’s legs are shown, at one point in the film it is obvious that Cruise’s character is looking at the genital area of a woman who has her legs spread wide open. At least twice in the film, a large female mannequin, which is clothed in hotpants and a top, is shown near a marquee with its legs spread wide open. There is also some bad language in this film.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3 —Ed, age 57 (USA) Negative—The music was great. The story was fun. But the sexual content was offensive. There is also a scene where Alec Baldwin’s character and Russell Brand’s character realize they are in love. If it wasn’t for the crude sexual content and homosexuality, the movie would have been pretty good. I would not recommend anyone to see this movie, and I wish I wouldn’t have wasted my time and money on another filthy Hollywood film.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5 —Brandy, age 35 (USA) Negative—Film promotes sexuality and homosexualism. Should be rated R for extreme sexual content and full face kissing scene of two adult male homosexuals. Parents who feel safe in allowing older teens above age 13 to see a PG-13 movie would be shocked at the content of “Rock of Ages.” This film crosses the line by covering the bizarre with 80’s music and fresh young couple in love. Parents might want to review this before allowing their older teen to see it under the guise of PG-13 rating.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½ —Sharon, age 73 (USA) Negative—I, too, grew up during part of the 80s, and hate to admit I have much of the music from this movie on my iPhone. I did enjoy seeing how they would weave the music into the script. That being said, the movie was way over the top with sexuality. I guess they kept the PG-13 rating with limited profanity and no actual nudity. But if a person is basically liking someone’s crotch, does it really matter if they still have a wisp of cloths on? And, of course, we have to have a very pro-homosexuality theme woven in (reminded me of “Mama Mia”). I’m afraid I could not recommend this to anyone.
Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3 —Wesley, age 48 (USA) Negative—We finally reached our limit with this movie and walked out about 2/3 of the way through; three other people had just done the same before us. This movie was the most offensive movie to date that I had ever seen. The PG-13 rating was totally incongruous with the EXTREME SEXUAL NATURE of this film. I have seen many R-rated movies that did not have this many overtly sexual scenes included in them. Do not support this film.
—Julie, age 50 (USA) Sorry, no other viewer comments received yet. If you have seen this movie and would like to share your observations and insights with others to be posted here, please contact us! |
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