5. "Entertaining. Cruise was the best thing about it." In response to Reply # 0
The flow into the songs didn't feel natural for a musical and the first song on the bus was cringe and eyeball roll worthy when everyone joined in. Story was enjoyable even if it was cliche city. But man does Cruise do his thing as Stacee Jaxx. So much swagger and besides Mary J. and Julianne Hough, he's the next best singer. Mary J.'s character was useless and did nothing for the story except help Julianne's character hit an all time low, which her character was already at. We cut back to Mary J. and Julianne and we see some dude getting kicked out of the titty bar and Mary J. says that's my ex. I was like why in the fuck was this in the movie especially since we never see homeboy again.
With that said Adam Shankman is a blast!!! Dude is one of those fun gays who understands straight dudes. He said he wanted to make a musical that straight men can go to and dig it. Apparently at the musical they serve booze up and down the aisle and it gets wild. He said some chick threw up on the old woman in front of her and that's what drew him to the project. Can anyone confirm this?
Also, I'm shocked this is PG-13. The sexual content is this shit is off the charts.
Still don't know why this is getting an IMAX release and taking screens away from Prometheus
11. "That quote from Shankman bugged me." In response to Reply # 5
I mean, it's not like he created the friggin' stage play (which I've heard is terrible.) Also, if you want to make a story that guys will go to, don't go with the cliched small town kid lured by the evils of money and fame.
I just don't see a lot of guys wanting to check this out.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 65822 posts
Tue Jun-12-12 06:14 AM
6. "Cruise was terrific. The rest of it... wasn't." In response to Reply # 0
It's harmless with intermittent fun one-liners. But turns out Hairspray was an anomaly for Shankman, who does very hollow and hacky work here. The choreo didn't even impress me for the most part.
It's not his fault, I suppose, that the material is weak. The characters outside of Stacee Jaxx are lame and one-note, plot turns and characters are brought up and immediately dropped, and the songs, regardless of what you think about them, are corny and shallow in musical context. You'll never feel the heart in the "I love you" moment if they're singing "Waiting For A Girl Like You" or "More Than Words." It doesn't help that Shankman employs a lot of cutesy self-awareness, which does get some laughs, but ruins what should be the heart of the film.
Cruise is amazing though. Golden Globe nomination... do they do supporting for just comedy/musical? They might throw him in as lead, shit. Hough is very charming and easy on the eyes. Giamatti does Giamatti. Will Forte and TJ Miller both made me laugh hard in cameos. It's a goddamn shame they didn't have Bryan Cranston sing "I Am The One Who Knocks On Heaven's Door."
15. "this shit is going to be such a trainwreck that I almost wanna" In response to Reply # 0
see it but I would never pay to see it & I'm almost thinking it could be so horrible I won't even have the patience to clown or laugh at the spectacle of it.
16. "Shankman's goal was just off from the beginning" In response to Reply # 15
He keeps talking about a musical that guys would take their girls to but it's cheesy hair rock and it looks like the standard small boy and girl in the big city nonsense with a little bit of Footloose thrown in. Guys aren't going to drag anyone to see that. He should have wanted to make a musical that would have been a little more palatable for guys and the studio shouldn't have aimed the marketing at guys.
I've also heard that the original musical is a cliched mess so that doesn't help.
Someone could make a musical for guys but you're going to have to break the cliched storylines and try for something different.
