Review of Grease (1978) by Ahmed A — 08 Jun 2018

Grease is a dated dance filled drag.

Grease is a movie that is more iconic than great filmmaking. From the cliche rife script to the ridiculous costumes, Grease is a dated mess that is more fun to laugh at than alongside. The music is fairly memorable, but a lot of the singing is rather weak. I think Grease is unfortunately a product of its time.

To expand upon this, I must say Grease is a mixed bag that parodies types from so many movies that came before it. From Marlon Brando's The Wild One to Fonzie's Happy Days, Grease just does not hold up compared to its predecessors. It tries to be West Side Story, but Grease falls short. Thankfully, better movies about Greasers would be released after Grease like The Outsiders. As a musical drama, Risky Business and Footloose are much more entertaining. I would recommend any of the aforementioned films before Grease.

I must note, Grease's main issue is the horrible miscast ensemble. Every single actor is apparently 30, 40, or 50 while they are supposed to be teenagers in high school! Everyone is simply too old for the part. You do not believe a minute of it.

Similarly, every actor and actress is overacting like you would not believe. It is not even a fun tongue in cheek level of sass, but just plain bad acting across the board.

Speaking of which, John Travolta is playing up his character way too much. Likewise, every side character is a nauseating stereotype of a wild teenager. Embarrassing levels of overacting in every scene. At least, Travolta could dance even though he could not act well yet or even sing that remarkably. Similar to Olivia Newton-John who can only sing nicely, while her dancing and acting leaves much to be desired. Grease manages a bad performance from every actor.

On the other hand, Stockard Channing is phenomenal as Rizzo. She acts, dances, and sings well throughout Grease. You believe her character even though she is also too old to be a high school teenager like the rest of the cast. She is Grease's saving grace.

In short, I recommend you skip Grease. It's quite dated and slow. The music is pretty, but the dance choreography is sloppy to say the least. Atrocious overacting meets bland characterizations. Grease is an oil slicked back mess.