Guilty Pleasures: The Rock
Filed under: Action, Disney, Guilty Pleasures
In honor of the latest Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, it seems appropriate to spotlight one of his productions as a guilty pleasure. I thought of going with Con Air or Pearl Harbor, but both are so ridiculously silly I don't feel guilty in finding enjoyment in them. So, I picked a movie for which my love isn't so innocent: The Rock.
The thing is, The Rock is actually a good movie. It is well-imagined, well-structured, and exceptionally well-cast. Its story is smart, its dialogue is witty and its action is overflowing. When it opened, The Rock received a respectable amount of favorable reviews, mostly from populist critics including Roger Ebert, Janet Maslin and Peter Travers. Five years later, it garnered a prestigious Criterion DVD release.
So why do I feel so guilty for liking it?
A guilty pleasure is something accepted as bad but appreciated, or at least enjoyed, anyway. So, if The Rock was so well-received, then how does it count? Because, from what I can tell, the movie no longer carries the acclaim and respect it originally had. Mainly, its director, Michael Bay, has become a joke in the world of film criticism, each of his subsequent movies worse than the previous and his trademark style now cliche. Also, there is now too much attention drawn to The Rock's unnecessary, divergent car chase through San Francisco, citing it as the film's point of failure.
Well, the car chase is my most guilty pleasure with the film, then. Sure it's disposable, but in a movie so inclusive of every sort of action imaginable, it fits in the package deal. The scene also serves as the one real battle between Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery in a movie that continually plays with and blurs the roles of hero, antihero and villain. It makes sense to have that one moment where Connery is still not really a "good guy". So we get to see Cage go after Connery, then team up and go after Ed Harris, and then team up with him (even if its too late) and go after the really heartless marines. Plus, the sequence allows for an extra bit with the late, great John Spencer.
Sure it's easy for film critics to now generalize Bay's oeuvre as trash, but it is important to recognize The Rock as his one achievement. Otherwise by generalizing, critics gain a reputation for being dismissively prejudice. Certainly no film critic wants to be known for being ignorant, so hopefully others may join me and admit how good The Rock is. Then, I can stop feeling so guilty.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-12-2006 @ 1:28PM
josh said...
It is a bombastic, ridiculous movie, but it has good, interesting characters, great action, and action some clever ideas... and clever casting, Sean Connery's role implies he is a captured James Bond, which I thought was pretty cool.
I love this movie!
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7-12-2006 @ 1:45PM
Peter said...
I love this movie, though for whatever reason I cannot bring myself to buy it and add it to my collection.
I think it gets a bad rap because frontman Nic Cage, who, for as much money as he makes per film, rubs a lot of movie watchers the wrong way. I think it is his voice and his occasionally dopey expression.
This was the movie that really solidified my appreciation for Ed Harris. He is one of my favorite actors and one personality because of whom I will see any movie. It is a shame when he only gets smaller roles like in History of Violence.
And I agree with josh on the implication of Connery's life before capture.
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7-12-2006 @ 2:02PM
josh said...
Can i mention action any more times? Jeez.
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7-12-2006 @ 2:17PM
Chuck said...
I would agree that its a guilty pleasure (for the Connery/Cage byplay alone) but I wouldn't really call it a good movie, its essentially the 1000th variation on Die Hard (which actually is a good movie.) For me though, the Michael Bay guilty pleasure to point out would be the stratospherically absurd Bad Boys 2, unlike Armageddon or Pearl Harbor, in which tedious attempts are made at characterization and story, BB 2 is a rush of pure psychotic acion with no pretensions and no pulling of punches in regards to the mayhem (no PG-13 here buddy.)
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7-12-2006 @ 2:31PM
Jeremy said...
I love the movie. Own it on DVD as well. The chase scene was exciting to me, even if the Ferrari crash scene used 3 Pontiac Fiero rebodies that were made especially for this movie [I love my little 80's cars].
Anyway, good action and good dialogues. The main issue for many is that Cage is in it. Other then that, I think it's great.
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7-12-2006 @ 2:34PM
ihatemovies said...
As far as guilty pleasures go, Con Air kicks The Rock's arse. Just ask the New York Times' Manohla Dargis. :-)
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7-12-2006 @ 2:55PM
bgdc said...
Bad, bad writing , worse casting and that cinematography is vomit-inducing. Michael Bay's Monkey-cam style doesn't work. The car chase with the Ferrari and Hummer on SF streets should have been a beautiful mix of grace and brutality: the Ferrari - bobbing, weaving, rocketing and the Hummer - crushing, smashing, growling. Instead Bay wiggled the camera and did not take advantage of the machines and the location.
Anyone who has ever been in SF Bay knows no old man could swim those waters.
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7-12-2006 @ 3:17PM
Steve said...
The Rock is one of my favourite action movies, the one line that always entertains me is when connery says "Welcome to The ROCK!".... classic!
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7-12-2006 @ 6:21PM
The Jeremy said...
One of the two things I h8 about the movie is the fight between Connery's character and the character who goes to the trouble of stating his family is Irish. If I recall correctly, the character refers to Connery's as being English, which is beyond belief - except if you consider the "stupid American" stereotype the Eurotrash cling to and our rednecks are responsible for inspiring - considering Connery's accent sounds nothing resembling the variety of English accents.
My other point of contention has to do with how Connery's character would know much about prom queens. Granted, it was an interesting dialogue exchange, but it seemed "Whedonesque" (as in characters speaking above themselves and their experiences) before "Whedonesque" announced itself to Joe Public.
Other than those two points, I love the film. Bring on the Criterion Blu-Ray edition in H.264 goodness!
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7-12-2006 @ 6:25PM
The Jeremy said...
Plus, why would a member of British intelligence be held in solitary by our government? The MI6 and the CIA operate out of each other's HQs. We don't spy on each other...our countries share intelligence with one another because each country only trusts the other. Ever heard of Echelon?
Besides, according to the French and other like-minded (jealous) critics, we're the same entity...the Anglo-American Empire.
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7-12-2006 @ 8:13PM
Scott Weinberg said...
This is a very fine action film, so IMO you needn't feel guilty at all. It's slick to look at, packed with cool character actors, full of great action bits, and anchored by three strong leads. Good score, too.
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7-12-2006 @ 11:15PM
thegrizzle said...
So first off, I believe the reason the film got a Criterion release(along side Armageddon) was because Disney, who owns Touchstone(who I believe the Rock was released under) BOUGHT the Criterion company. So, that shouldn't be used to defend the film. It's just not Criterion material. 8 1/2, The Last Wave, The Rock? They go together like peanut butter and toenail clippings. However, the Rock is good ol' ridiculous roller coaster fun. It's an absurd premise, and jarring to watch, but between Tarantino's script doctoring, and Connery's...Conneryisms it all works out. An enjoyable film that's been sitting in my "rewatch" pile for awhile now. At times I desire to lump Last Action Hero and Cabin Boy into the same guilty pleasure category as The Rock, but then I remember that those films have SOME merit, and are in a way defensible. The Rock is a brilliantly polished turd that I can't help but enjoy.
"YOUR BEST? LOSERS ALWAYS WHINE ABOUT THEIR BEST! WINNERS GO HOME AND F*** THE PROM QUEEN!"
Just terrific.
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