Review of Saturday Night Fever (1977) by Jeffrey S — 04 Dec 2018

Don't let the ubiquity of its parodies and soundtrack fool you: There is more here than just light-up floors, disco balls, and white suitsâ"there is also a provocative depiction of toxic masculinity and the emotional stagnation of the working class.

Trends and fashions change, but a fuckboi is still a fuckboi regardless of the clothes he wears and the music he dances toâ"transformation does not mean evolution, and the movie illustrates how young men get caught in cycles that leave them going nowhere, without real prospects for personal growth as they live weekend to weekend, living libidinally on the dance floor, the only place they feel they can g(r)o(w) and feel like they're staying alive.

Yet don't let that seriousness fool you, either: While the scenes centering on Travolta alone, on his struggles and his struts, are ecstatic and empathetic, the film too often reflects his character's shallowness in the way it approaches the rest of his world, treating the other characters as flimsy things to toss away just as Travolta's Tony does, making for a well-crafted albeit frequently superficial drama.