Review of The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll (2011) by Sonny O — 20 Jan 2012

I wouldn't have been happy if I'd paid full price for a ticket because it does bring to mind Eddie & the Cruisers , one of my favorite movies growing up. That being said however, it was far better than it's first impressions.

There are some really good moments and every actor gives his best. There are different layers to the movie beyond just a rock star going back home to lick his wounds. There's the friend he left behind after stealing the demo that gave him fame. That same friend whose help he needs now to keep his career alive. The guitarist that still lives in the shadow of his father's tragic rock legend past, and may never become who he could be. The struggle of one guy having talent but little desire and the other that has the burning desire but no (writing) talent. The former is haunted by things that happened around him that he had no control over and the latter is haunted by all the bad choices he's made that's left him empty inside. All played to a soundtrack of rock that was born out of the blues.

And yes, there are cliche's like self-destructive rock stars, drug abuse, death. and "where the hell are we" tour moments, but overall, for grabbing this movie at random and hanging out at the house on a Thursday, it was a pretty good watch and I'd do it again.

Props to Ritter and Zegers for actually playing and singing the songs. Oh, and when compared to other movies where the actors are made up to look 20 years older, not only did the makeup team do a fantastic job of making it look real, Kevin Zegers did the work selling it by changing his voice and movement. (Yeah, I'm a movie geek like that. And it stands out because another movie I watched this week was weak in that department.).