"Saturday Night Fever" is a 1977 musical drama directed by John Badham starring John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney.
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All in all, this opalescent character study easily takes to the floor and moves elegantly to a feverish beat, and even if it cools down at some times, it brings a lot of heat with it and also doesn't fail to explores the few shadows the glittering and shining lights of the disco ball casts, all lead by a young Travolta at his peak form. I came across this film after I have watched Travolta's more popular dance romance "Grease" and was instantly intrigued by the premise, as it promised some solid drama. In the end, it wasn't even as mediocre as others said, but not as brilliant either. Nevertheless, it managed to portray the conflict I was hoping to see properly: A young man who struggles with his family and anxiety for future and dances in order to cut out all of his problems. Travolta plays the teenage main character, nineteen-year-old Italo-American Tony Manero convincingly and superbly conveys this inner dilemma of escapism and the fears and desires it entails. To be honest, Travolta is in general an underrated artist, I mean, he can sing, dance and act, sometimes all at once - and in this film he shows two of his skills wonderfully. Underlined by the immortal and agitating soundtrack by The Bee Gees, most prominently "Stayin' Alive", he turns in some remarkable performances and nails all the choreographies apparently effortlessly. It is no understatement when I say that he is literally the king of the dance floor in here and sets it on fire with his moves. The contrast between his bleak family life and his own kind of heaven shows to advantage as well and conveys some unexpected dark subtones. For example, when he meets the mature and intelligent Stephanie, he is reminded of his own hopelessness and how far he is away from being an adult himself. All those undeniably serious topics are included as well, but what is what keeps me from bestowing this flick a higher rating? Well, the dialogue and plot are the problem. The majority of spoken lines are utterly cheesy, and some scenes are extremely lengthy and should have ended on the floor of the editing room. Travolta was the only reason that they were somewhat bearable. His character is the centre of this atmospheric tale and the reason it is so fascinating in the first place, because he in fact develops wonderfully throughout. With the done hair and the countless stylish outfits he makes this coming of age drama and ode to the disco era what it is - a flawed yet extremely ambitious escapism tale that doesn't hesitate to also point out the more opaque sides of a troubled teenager and his ways to cope with reality.
Review of Saturday Night Fever
