Covering Don't Stop Believing Is Nothing New, But Rock Of Ages Gave It A Go Anyhow

Welcome to a new edition of my bi-weekly column called When Good Songs Happen To Bad Movies, in which I look at pretty well done songs that just so happened to debut in more subpar features.

It had existed within pop culture for numerous years prior to Glee, but that TV Shows rendition of Don't Stop Believing introduced the Journey song for a whole new generation to belt out their own vocal takes on the legendary choruses of that tune. And of course, why wouldn't it resonate with people in 2010 just as it had in 1981? The title of the song alone radiates hope, a theme everyone, regardless of age, can relate to as a necessity, and the lyrics frame a tale of a small town girl (living in a lonely world, don'tcha know) and a city boy (who I heard was born and raised in South Detroit) just trying to survive in harsh circumstances while that titular axiom gets them through another day.

Those are the kind of themes Rock of Ages utilizes quite heavily, to the point of having its story center around a small town girl (played by Julianne Hough) and a boy (played by Diego Boneta) she meets in an unfamiliar location. Now, numerous pieces of storytelling focus on a guy and a gal, and conventionally, I'd say the song and the film share this trait solely by coincidence. But here's the deal; within the story, that aforementioned boy comes up with the song Don't Stop Believin' whilst he's on a date night.

It's one of many story turns in Rock of Ages that are eyebrow raising, but at least that ones more inoffensive as far as the movies transgressions go. I'll take that bit of storytelling over the awkward romantic chemistry between Hough and Boneta, the clumsy choreography of the musical numbers or Bryan Cranston getting repeatedly spanked (I'm sure the phrase "Say my name" takes on a whole meaning in that scene). Hell, that moment at least leads to the films sole good song and dance number, which, as you might suspect, is a cover of Don't Stop Believing.

As a song, Don't Stop Believing is a lot like pizza; it takes a lot of effort to really screw it up. Thankfully, the films period setting (the 80's) means this piece of music doesn't have to endure being "enhanced" by modern music hallmarks like dubstep, instead being brought to life by the various members of the cast. Hough and Boneta get to belt out the majority of the lines, though Tom Cruise (whose actually one of the few highlights of the feature) also gets plenty of time to shine, while Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin and Mary J. Bilge each get a line to harmonize.

The lyrics of Don't Stop Believing are such emotionally captivating lines that, as I said before, an enormous amount of disasters would have to work for them not to resonate on some level, and while this cover of the tune won't ever be considered some kind of all-time great musical number, it at least brings a level of energy and fun that the rest of Rock of Ages never even comes close to. Despite how much the movie wants to capture a mood of 80's freedom and euphoria, it's only during the showstopper performance of Don't Stop Believing that the production obtains a sense of entertainment fueled purpose.