Review of Saturday Night Fever (1977) by Mike S — 22 Jul 2012

I'd never seen this before and was surprised and impressed by it. I was expecting some cliched story of a working-class kid with talent who gets his big break. But it's more a coming-of-age story about a kid who learns that life isn't always fair.

Travolta was surprisingly intense and gave his character far more depth than I would have expected from someone who's main role up until then was a sitcom stereotype. There was also more subtlety and sophistication to the script than I expected.

The camera work seems very dated, though, with angles and shots that look so '70s. The music is now classic.