Nostalgic Nostalgia Fest Maintains Its Superficial Bounce

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2007)

It's hard to think of a bigger slice of 1970's Hollywood kitsch than this candy-coated, mega-successful 1978 musical comedy. Capitalizing on the tidal wave of Eisenhower-era nostalgia pervasive on both big and small screens at the time, it manages to be stridently artificial and mindlessly entertaining at the same time, although it still boggles the mind that it has had such an afterlife, including sing-along versions playing at art-house movie theaters. Part of the ironic amusement is watching actors obviously in their late twenties and early thirties pretending to be teenagers. Credit should be given to director Randal Kleiser for his unapologetic stance on maneuvering the contrived silliness with spirit if not much finesse.
Set in a period of the 1950's that existed only in Hollywood and lacking any semblance of reality or dramatic conflict, the threadbare plot focuses on greaser Danny, the cool leader of the T-Birds, and wholesome Sandy, a good-girl Aussie blonde enjoying a summer romance on the beach prior to senior year at Rydell High. Sandy was supposed to move back to Australia, but she ends up staying stateside and attending Rydell. With image being of the utmost importance, Danny initially rejects Sandy - now a cheerleader - when they meet again, and we follow all their romantic complications over the course of the school year until graduation. There is also the ongoing power struggle between the T-Birds and the rival gang, the Scorpions, as well as the peer-pressure shenanigans caused by the T-Birds' girlfriends, the Pink Ladies, headed by sleep-around tart, Rizzo.
All of this merely provides an excuse for the various musical numbers, the most energetic being the ensemble pieces like the cleverly edited "Summer Nights" and the stylized "Jailhouse Rock" knock-off, "Greased Lightning". Most of the numbers are from the Broadway show, though there are some deliberately anachronistic insertions such as Barry Gibb's disco-accented title tune and the peppy funhouse duet, "You're the One That I Want". John Travolta is perfectly cast as Danny, even if his singing voice threatens to evaporate from his sincerity. Olivia Newton-John has the right manner and looks for Sandy, though she is hardly challenged to develop a compelling character here.
The standout is Stockard Channing as Rizzo, the only character that has any connection to the reality of the times, and she expertly sings the mocking "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" and frankly outdoes Newton-John on the touching "There Are Worse Things I Could Do". Several familiar faces fill out the cast - Eve Arden in Miss Brooks mode as Principal McGee, Sid Caesar rather constrained as Coach Calhoun, Joan Blondell equally pallid as malt shop waitress Vi, Edd Byrnes as a Dick Clark-type lothario, Alice Ghostley as the auto shop teacher, Dody Goodman as the ditzy school administrator, and of course, Frankie Avalon serenading "Beauty School Dropout" to squeaky-voiced Didi Conn's Frenchy.
Serious examination of the film is useless since it is more a cheery variety show with superficial references to the sexual politics of the 1950's. The new 2006 "Rockin' Rydell Edition" DVD package comes with extras that should satisfy fans. There is an insightful commentary track by Kleiser and choreographer Patricia Birch; eleven minutes worth of deleted scenes in black-and-white; a nostalgic "Grease Day" featurette that contains interviews with Travolta, Newton-John and producers Allen Carr and Robert Stigwood; and coverage of the 25th Anniversary DVD launch party, which includes spirited performances by Newton-John, Travolta and the remaining cast.