It's a weird dream, but it's her dream.

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2017)

So this movie, the first film I saw at the Chinese Grauman's upon moving to L.A., has one of the great 80's soundtracks of all time, in addition to a standard Cinderella story of a struggling dancer who wants to get out of her nighttime exotic dancing job into one of the big dance schools in Pittsburgh. She works as a welder to make a living and deals with all sorts of sexual harassment which she handles like a pro. She's certainly able to take care of herself and nobody's going to mess with her unless she wants to be messed with. She's Jennifer Beals, a sort of here today, whatever happened to them tomorrow sort of star who hasn't quite had the A list career she started off with, but then she hasn't quite faded into obscurity either. I found her very likable and wanted to see more of her, but if there's anything in her career that she'll always be remembered for, at least as a cult actress, it will be "Flashdance".
This has a rough around the edges feel to it with its Pittsburgh street life view, and director Adrian Lyne ("Fatal Attraction") gets much of the gritty side of that Pennsylvania city quite right. She has the right man (the handsome Michael Nouri) and the right attitude to succeed in finding her dreams, so what a feeling you know she'll have once that dream is achieved. She also has her own real life fairy godmother (Oscar winning Lilia Skala), so there's never any doubt that this will have the standard Hollywood ending. Kyle T. Heffner is amusing as Beals' struggling stand-up comic pal. While a decent actress with presence, Beals does not do her own dancing which gave this film some bad press when it came out with all of the out of work dancers/actresses possibly more qualified for the role. The music is fun, the energy filled with a really retro 80's atmosphere, and in spite of being cheesy when I look back on it nearly 35 years later, I have fond memories of it.