Village People - Can't Stop the Music
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Movie Reviews of Village People - Can't Stop the Music
Movie Review: "Can't Stand the Movie"
Summary: 2 Stars
If Ed Wood were alive today and viewed this DVD, he would have loved it. He would have found it brilliant. The concept alone would have sent him reeling. He seemed to have that kind of creative mind. I'm sure he would have run right out and started his own musical version of "Plan 9 from Outer Space."
What detracts from the movie is that much of the film is dubbed. Apparently, poor sound quality or noise on the set during filming prompted the need to have the actors re-record their dialog. Dialog dubbed in a recording booth never sounds as spontaneous as on the set. Dubbing is done during post-production -i.e., after the principle photography is completed and the participants have seen a rough version of the film. This may account for the lackluster dubbing performances. When the greater part of a movie is dubbed, and the dubbed performances are bad, the entire movie seems out of whack. "Can't Stop the Music" is one film that is out of whack.
After the success of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease," producer Allan Carr must have thought he could not fail. He was wrong. This movie, unlike "SNF" and "Grease," bombed badly in the United States. But three things prevented "SNF" and "Grease" from bombing: a good script, terrific acting and wonderful choreography. "Can't Stop the Music" lacks all three of these.
[Carr again tried to produce another hit with "Grease 2." This movie had great acting and terrific choreography (Pat Birch, the choreographer for the first "Grease" created the dance sequences for "Grease 2" as well). "Grease 2" lacked one important ingredient: A good script.]
Because David Hodo ("Construction Worker") was the more commercially appealing member of the Village People, he was given a solo (written in as a daydream sequence). The number should have been cut from the film. The grinding dance moves where the audience is treated to close-ups of the front of Hodo's tight jeans seem nothing more than gratuitous.
Valerie Perrine (known mostly for her role as Lex Luther's girlfriend in the "Superman" films) plays the female lead in the film. The role was supposed to go to Olivia Newton-John, but Lovely Livvy apparently asked for too much money. When she turned down producer Allan Carr (who had tagged her to play Sandy in "Grease"), he reportedly said, "She can act, but she ain't no Barbra Striesand." (Instead, ONJ went on to star in a vehicle that promoted her own music. The film, "Xanadu," bombed; but its soundtrack went triple platinum). Amazingly, Perrine agreed to allow herself to be filmed in a state of partial nudity (in the sauna during the "YMCA" sequence), something Newton-John certainly would not have considered.
Bruce Jenner turned in a rather good comical performance, despite the material he was asked to perform. Given that the film includes a scene in a gym with many men clad in skimpy gym shorts, I'm sure Jenner was asked to do the film because of his famous "crossing the yellow line in the Olympics" photograph plastered on Wheaties cereal boxes. The photo shows Jenner in tiny red shorts that leave little to the imagination (hence his popularity). If it was his body that got him the role, then so be it. That kind of thing still goes on today.
Steve Guttenberg never before (nor has he since) turned in such a bad performance as an actor. He is so over the top in his delivery that his jugular vein looks like it may burst every time he delivers a line. I suspect that his performance on film is not entirely his own fault. Many times, actors' performances are dependent upon the director's ability to elicit good performances. Director Nancy Walker had more than her share of difficulties in this area, the foremost being that the majority of the cast were not professional actors.
Nancy Walker (perhaps better known as "Rosie" in Bounty's papertowels The Quicker-Picker-Upper ads and as "Ida Morganstern," Rhoda's mom) had enormous success as a director with the film "Rabbit Test" starring Billy Crystal. This may have been the reason she was handed the reins for this project. Unlike "Rabbit Test," where she essentially had control over all aspects of the film-making process, she had to contend with drug use on the set and the enthusiastic egos of her producers (Carr and Stigwood). "Can't Stop the Music" is plagued with "too many hands spoil the creative soup," resulting in a film that, stylistically, is all over the place.
Carr tried to recreate the nostalgic magic of "Grease" by giving roles to veteran actors, who seem oddly out of place in the setting of "Can't Stop the Music." Where the audience could easily connect the likes of Eve Arden, Joan Blondell and Sid Caesar to the 50s setting in "Grease," the audience is hard pressed to figure out two things about the veteran actors in "Music": One, who are they?; and Two, what is their connection to the disco era?
Over time, some movies that fail when they are first released find their niche of commercial popularity. 1939's "Wizard of Oz," for example, bombed when it was released in theaters. "Rocky Hill Picture Show" (also a musical) didn't find mass appeal until long after it failed at the box office. It appears that some executive at Paramount Pictures believes that "Can't Stop the Music" will someday find its niche and may even recoup some of the enormous financial losses the film incurred. The very fact that this DVD has not been deleted from the Paramount catalog seems to support the argument that Paramount is determined to make their money back.
I purchased this DVD for one reason only: As awful as the movie is, it's fun to watch. It has a terrific soundtrack that brings me back to my teenage years, a time when disco music was proudly known as "disco music." The music in this film evokes memories of more innocent and naive days. Those days are days I long for and this movie allows me to go there, if only in my imagination. Musical Fantasies are prone to do that to people.
Movie Review: Bad and not in a good way
Summary: 1 Stars
I caught this the other night on the new gay network Logo, after having not seen it since it's initial release. I was a teenager then and was far more forgiving then I am now.
There are those movies,as mentioned in other reivews here, that are fun in a Campy way, like Showgirls or Glitter. This is not one of those movies. Bad casting. Bad Acting. Horrible editing and Crappy choreography. How did Varie Perrine get stuck in this after Superman the Movie? How did Guttenburg get the movie Cocoon after this? Why did an athlete like Bruce Jenner decide that it would be a good idea to do this?
I'm sure a book could be written on the production and the casting choices. It might be more interesting than the movie.
Movie Review: Beyond Camp, Beyond Trash, Beyond Taste, It's Just Beyond...
Summary: 5 Stars
I gave this little (or long) gem of a turkey 5 stars as credit to the actors for just getting through it. I suppose I should be happy with CSTP as next to it my favorite Disco Movie, Thanks God It's Friday, comes out looking like a cinematic masterpiece.
Based VERY LOOSELY on how the late J. Morali founded the Village People, this trash-fest is best viewed on something (perhaps as a true salute to the 70's). Neil Bogart, the head of the Village People's record label, Casablanca, knew he could get more milage out of this group by whitewashing their gay identity, and while it helped to sell records (YMCA, In The Navy) it was so unbelivable in this movie that even theatre goers in Idaho knew they were being hustled.
The acting in this movie defies any attempt to critique it, and we are treated to Bruce Jenner running around 1979 NYC wearing come___me cut off shorts, and a too tight cutoff t-shirt. We are also lead to belive that Valarie Perrine was the real Farah Fawchet, and that Steve Guttenburg could really dance, skate, DJ, not to mention act.
The musical numbers could have single handly ended the movie musical. Milkshake, and I Love You To Death MUST be seen to understand. The final musical number, the title track, was actually taken from a a real Village People concert in late '79, and was probally the last time that the Village People were backed by a live band.
Had this movie been released the same year that it was filmed (1979) it would have no doubt done better at the box office, by 1980 public tastes had already changed, and by then this movie was just to....beyond.
Movie Review: "Leathermen don't get nervous..."
Summary: 5 Stars
One previous reviewer said something like the only gay Village "person" was Felippe (The Indian)?! Hello? Randy (The original cowboy) "married" his male partner two years ago! Look it up online- you can see the photos of the happy GAY couple! And the LeatherMan and Construction Worker never confirmed or denied they were gay...and let's face it...what single men, over 30, who wear chaps are straight? I am pretty sure they are just not as "in-your-face" about their sexuality and prefer to leave a bit to the imagination...(even though Glenn Hughes "LeatherMan" died a few years back R.I.P)
...all the other reviews about this movie are spot-on! This is an enthusiastic little movie that doesn't try too hard to be anything it isn't. If you like choreography, glamour and costume changes then you'll love this quaint movie.
Movie Review: The Final Nail in Disco's Coffin, as Well as a Few Careers
Summary: 1 Stars
It was 1980. There was no MTV, Jimmy Carter was president, the Iran hostage crisis was continuing, Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign was gaining momentum and personal computers were slowly gaining in popularity. Popular films included "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back", "Raging Bull", "The Shining" and "The Elephant Man". It was also the time when the music genre known as "disco", that had become extremely popular in the 1970's, was starting to lose luster as radio stations dropped their disco formats and disco clubs earned decreasing revenue. One disco-based film, "Saturday Night Fever", had been rather successful at the box office in 1977. This was followed in 1978 by the far less memorable film "Thank God It's Friday". Still trying to cash-in on disco's weakening popularity, two disco-based films were released in 1980: "Xanadu" and "Can't Stop The Music". Each of these films were produced on a budget of approximately $20-million, but whereas "Xanadu" earned about $23-million in theaters, "Can't Stop the Music" earned a measly $2-million. Why, you may ask? Simple: both films were bad, but "Can't Stop the Music" went farther--it was truly awful!
Imagine, if you a will, the charming & heart-warming story (note: I'm being sarcastic) of an unknown music composer, Jack Morell (Steve Guttenberg), trying to find a musical group to perform his songs. His female roommate, Samantha Simpson (Valerie Perrine), and an attorney, Ron White (Bruce Jenner), gather together a group of six men from Greenwich Village and voil?: the very popular disco group known as the Village People was born! (Yeah, right!) Based very loosely on Jacques Morali, the man who actually founded the Village People, the film's farcical & unrealistic "rags-to-riches" story about the Village People includes performances of the songs "Y.M.C.A." (where else: in a gym), "Can't Stop the Music" (the song) and "Milkshake" (a truly frightening choreographed dance routine with the Village People all wearing white) to name a few.
Needless to say, "Can't Stop the Music" did exactly that: it hastened the end of the already terminally-ill disco genre, and wasn't particularly helpful to the careers of the Village People themselves. If you are planning to watch this little gem, I would highly recommend renting it instead of buying it since my overall rating for the film is only 1 star for its dismal acting, poor direction (Nancy Walker, 1922-1992), awful script and less than memorable choreography. Not surprisingly, Nancy Walker never directed anything else after "Can't Stop the Music", and the same can be said for the film's two writers, Allan Carr (1937-1999) and Bronte Woodard (1940-1980). Surprisingly, both had previously worked on the highly successful 1978 musical "Grease". (Of course, Bronte Woodard died shortly after "Can't Stop the Music" opened in theaters, but I won't speculate as to whether there had been a connection between the two events.) This film would make an excellent gag gift.