Actors: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Donna Pescow
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Saturday Night Fever
“Don't you never chew,” asks a friend to Tony Manero (Travolta) over burgers. Perhaps Tony's manners aren't “uptown,” but his disco moves at a Brooklyn hot spot certainly are as he astounds in this 1977 icon that introduced Disco to America and Travolta to the big screen.
But how would this story have played without the dancing? Probably just fine as Manero, his four Bay Ridge buddies, his Italian family, and a few unglamorous chicks converge with interesting dialogue and subplots (“Laurence Olivier? Isn't he the guy dat does dem Polaroid commercials?)
Although Tony has no real ambition, he works hard at a paint store so not to emulate his callous unemployed father. Meanwhile, his brother plans to quit the priesthood, there's an unwanted pregnancy or two, and a tragedy at the very symbol of Bay Ridge itself, the majestic Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Throw in the dance competition and you have a dated movie that's still fun to watch again and again, especially in 5.1.
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar
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Analysis of Saturday Night Fever
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- dancer
Training/apprentice story
Yes
Lover is...
- of a different social class
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- dancer
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) very skinny
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Body type
- (woman) very skinny
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- a deadline
Setting
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
Misc setting
- moving train
- bar
- mental hospital
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
- seeing breasts
Any profanity?
- A lot of foul language
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing and dancing
If this is a kid's movie...
- Ages 10-15
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Techno/synthesized
