Rock of Ages - C+

Rated PG-13, 122 minutes

Music the best part of the uneven rock-n-roll romp "Rock of Ages"

Tom Cruise is fictional rocker Stacee Jacks in "Rock of Ages"

The fun new musical "Rock of Ages" isn't really all that new. It's based on the Broadway hit of the same name and is filled with many familiar, rousing rock tunes of the '70s and '80s. Definitely a crowd pleasing, popcorn film, the disjointed "Rock of Ages" has a star-studded cast along with a couple of new faces. The weak, wildly uneven story is held together, unsurprisingly, by the music and the magnetic performances of a few cast members, especially Tom Cruise and my personal favorite, R&B diva Mary J. Blige. "Rock of Ages" tells the story of small town girl Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and city boy Drew (newcomer Diego Boneta), who meet on the Sunset Strip in 1987 while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Their rock 'n' roll romance is told through the heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake and more. "Rock of Ages" is filled with energy and captures some of the essence of the big-haired 1980s, and it's directed by "Hairspray's" Adam Shankman, not that he does much, since the film's music is the central premise and without the sing-along familiarity of those enthusiastic songs, the film would be a lot worse. Given the huge, all-star cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cruise, Blige, Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Malin Ackerman, Bryan Cranston and Will Forte, "Rock" is a disappointment: some of it works well (anything with Blige), while some of it doesn't (Giamatti's singing, the Baldwin-Brand subplot). The most interesting performance comes from the magnetic Cruise as star rocker Stacee Jacks, who is part charismatic and part-creepy, though in fact that is exactly the point of the character. Cruise's serviceable singing also helps, though the best-in-show comes from the dynamic performance of Blige, who blows the lid off the place and a little more as the owner of a strip joint who helps Hough's character. Hough herself is a little bland, newcomer Boneta much more memorable while Oscar-winner Zeta-Jones has a few fun moments as a mayor's wife. The entertaining, overlong and spastic "Rock of Ages" is OK, but the soundtrack is better.