I'm usually not so blunt in my evaluations of movies, but this is one of the worst I've ever seen. Emotions expressed by clenched jaws and popping eyes, broad and unbelievable plot, people interacting by heaving their chests and stalking away, choreography that makes the dancers look like swarming raptors. Tony Manero has been turned into a nasty, selfish, spoiled brat with none of the charm he exhibited in Saturday Night Fever. It's hard to ruin his terrific dancing ability, but the dance scenes are so over produced with fog machines, slo-mo camera shots and flashing lights, that the dancing is almost lost in the process. It's also all shot at the same pace. Dancers don't leap at the same pace as thy pas de bourre. The thrumming, squealing guitar music does nothing to help the dancers whose facial expressions look like they are constantly in pain. I don't blame them. This is a misconceived, over produced...I don't know what it is. Note to director: a director never runs the lighting board in the theatre. I guess that's what particularly bothers me. It's supposed to be a Broadway production and anyone who's ever been involved with a Broadway show would find this movie totally unbelievable. The whole tone of it is just nasty.
Review of Staying Alive
