Review of Saturday Night Fever (1977) by Alvin Y — 30 Aug 2012

Saturday Night Fever, Great Movies.

Few films can claim the status of creating a national (international, even) phenomenon upon release, but this one can. It offers a glimpse into the restless, nowhere lives of a group of young Brooklyn men, particularly Travolta, an hourly employee in a paint store who burns off steam on the dance floor every weekend. At home, he's considered worthless, but in his favorite dance club, he is monarch of all he surveys with men admiring him and women throwing themselves at him (even offering to dab his sweaty brow!) All important to him is an upcoming dance contest which he feels will propel him into another level of notoriety and prestige and he sets out to win it any way he can, constantly practicing his slickest moves. Gorney plays a social-climbing girl who has laid the ground work for getting out of Brooklyn and, though she is attracted to Travolta, is repulsed by the common qualities he represents. He becomes fascinated by her and considers her his way out of his current surroundings. Meanwhile, Travolta's friends dabble in booze, drugs, sex and gang warfare as they wallow in the stew of their existence. It all builds up to the big night of the contest where things may not turn out as expected. Travolta is magnetic in this, his first major film role. He worked tirelessly to perfect the dance moves which (though, at times, look rather silly today) are a highlight of the film. He also, however, brings much heart, charisma and commitment to the dramatic side of his not-always-sympathetic character. Gorney (who is easily a decade too old for her role) is a good counterpoint to Travolta and ably embodies her tacky, but desperate-to-change, character. She attempts to be as classy and refined as possible, yet her accent and crackling chewing gum belies her past. Their somewhat complex relationship adds some depth to what could have been a very shallow film. Travolta's friends are played with much authenticity and verve. Oddly, these actors continued with only marginally successful careers while Travolta went through the stratosphere. Another carefully etched performance is turned in by Pescow as one of Travolta's devoted followers. She goes a tad overboard near the end, but otherwise presents a solid, though pitiful, characterization. (She was one of the few actors in the film to achieve any sort of success afterwards and even that was limited. Gorney fell off the cinematic map entirely!) Travolta's family is played by more believable and well-textured actors. The music of the film (the soundtrack of which was one of the all time top sellers) is inherent to the story and is a compilation of some of the best that disco had to offer (though some might say even the best was still horrible!) Even the "Disco Sucks" crowd cannot deny the impact that this film had on the country as it set trends everywhere. Interestingly, some of the group numbers in the disco bear a striking similarity to the more recent country line dancing craze, only with more arm movements. The language of the film is tough, but necessary and realistic. There are two gut-wrenchingly suspenseful scenes atop the Verrazano Narrows bridge. It's a time capsule of a hedonistic and free-wheeling era (pre-AIDS) but with insightful examination of class structure and economic barriers, the nature of friendship among young men and the cost of inhumanity towards one another. A rancid and ludicrous sequel (which is good for some unintentional laughs) can not tarnish the spirit of the original film which still holds up today.