Saturday Night Fever

Starring: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali, Paul Pape, Donna Pescow, Fran Drescher
Directed by: John Badham
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
1977

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young man (John Travolta) struggles to find his place in the world, but really feels alive only on the disco floor.

Review:

Tim: I think Saturday Night Fever gets a bad rap because it's a disco movie, and disco just seems so lame nowadays. While it does seem a bit ridiculous, you have to understand that was the popular thing when this film came out, and look at it through that lens. Claiming this film is just a "disco" movie actually overlooks the fact that this is a gritty, realistic, difficult look at people growing up on the streets of New York. And yes, dancing their asses off on the disco floor.

The dance sequences are pretty spectacular. John Travolta is an amazing dancer, and he's in terrific form here. The soundtrack from this film is iconic- The Bee Gees' "Staying Alive", "Night Fever", "More Than a Woman", and You Should Be Dancing. The Trammps's "Disco Inferno" and KC & The Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes". Disco might be dead now, but there's something fun about watching these huge hits in a world where they were extremely popular. Watching Travolta on the dance floor is truly something to behold. The guy could get down, and it's a lot of fun watching that.

The disco is what comes to mind when you think about this film, but I was more amazed by the gritty realism of the characters and their lives. They are not portrayed as very glamorous people. Travolta is in a dead end job. His brother is a priest who loses his faith. One of his friends gets a girl pregnant. There's a rape scene. The world around this disco floor is pretty brutish and ugly, and I loved that this film was willing to show that. I'm of course talking about the "R" rated version, not the "PG" one. I was fairly blown away by Bobby C's character and his eventual fate. It was just so sad to see someone clearly hurting and trying to reach out to help, only to have those pleas fall on deaf ears. His plight brought real gravity to this film.

In addition to his dancing, Travolta really shines as Tony Manero. He received the movie's only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor, and he deserved the nom. He makes this character someone real, and someone we care about. I love his "Would you just watch the hair? I work a long time on my hair, and you hit it!" line. He delivers it perfectly. This movie captures a talented young man at the peak of his early career, and it's pretty fantastic to watch him.

I will say that I was completely bored stiff by Karen Lynn Gorney. I thought she gave a wooden, uninspired performance. It really brought the movie down for me. I simply don't see what her appeal was. I did, however, really liked Donna Pescow. She had a challenging role, but really made her character sympathetic. I felt bad for her, and that's an achievement.

When thinking about Saturday Night Fever, it's easy to get caught up in the disco silliness. However, this is a dancing movie that really isn't about the dancing. As I think about it now, I'm actually more impressed with the film than I was when it ended. It might seem silly in the moment, but it sticks with you. Director John Badham created a memorable, entertaining, and subtley powerful film. I really enjoyed this movie quite a bit.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Staying Alive