Rock of Ages

Humans are made to worship. If not God, then something or someone else. Rock of Ages is the perfect example. This '80s rock musical directed by Adam Shankman is a movie adaptation of Chris D'Arienzo's Tony-award winning Broadway musical about small town girl Sherrie (played by Julianne Hough) and timid Drew (Diego Boneta) who dream of making their way to fame on L.A.'s Sunset Strip.

The young people idolize fame, fortune, and Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise)-the oversexed, drugged-up hard rock idol who is scheduled to lead his band, Arsenal, in their farewell performance at the Strip's fictional hot spot, the Bourbon Room, where Drew and Sherrie work.

The sordid club owes thousands of dollars in back taxes and is in danger of closing unless the manager, Dennis Dupree (a portly and grizzled Alec Baldwin), can gross enough revenue from the concert to pay his debts.

The day of the concert arrives along with Jaxx and his skanky entourage. Despite his dissipation, his rock-god status gains him fawning worship from every woman in town, except the mayor's wife, Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones, à la Tipper Gore), who's leading a cadre of church matrons in a battle to rid L.A. of Jaxx and the Bourbon Room.

Nevertheless, screaming fans line up to hear the shirtless, leather-clad Jaxx perform, and the plot plummets swiftly into Hades as the characters compromise themselves and any values they had in search of fame and fortune. They find glory by re-swearing their allegiance before the throne of rock but there is little redemption to be found at this altar.

Despite the fun tunes from bands including Bon Jovi, Styx, Twisted Sister, and Poison, this PG-13 film, like its main character, is oversexed, over-glorified, and completely dissipated.