Wafer thin plot, but still a blast thanks to energy, exuberance and toe-tapping musical numbers.

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2013)

Grease, like a fine wine, has grown with age. It was a phenomenally successful film in its time but its commercial popularity was not equalled by its critical reception. Not that contemporary critics were especially negative towards it, more that they approved it with blandly above average reviews. To be sure, the plot of Grease is wafer thin and its narrative borders on non-existent between the musical set pieces.. However, it is a film which transcends the basic requirements of strong plot and narrative. It's about joyous set pieces. It's about goofy characters, interacting via goofy dialogue. It's about nostalgia. It's about awkward teen courtship. It's about those last days of high school where the joy of being young is ever-so-slightly tarnished by the encroaching end of one's educational era. The final scene of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John driving off into the sky in a flying car roots the film in a dreamy nostalgic/retrospective landscape, reminding us that we've been watching a fun musical fantasy, nothing more. In terms of achieving its goals – entertaining the audience, rocking us out, and putting a smile on our face – Grease does exactly what it says on the tin.
It's the start of a new school year at Rydell High, and T-Bird gang member Danny Zuko (John Travolta) enthusiastically tells his friends about a summer romance that he has enjoyed during the holidays. Unbeknown to him, his summer sweetheart Sandy (Olivia Newton John), has not returned to Australia as expected but, in fact, has enrolled at the same high school, where she relates her amazing summer of love with Danny to her new classmates. When they eventually run into each other, Danny can't bring himself to be his true self in front of his friends. Embarrassed by his gushing sentiments, his genuine feelings for Sandy, he treats her off-handedly, cruelly even, and it seems impossible that they will ever rediscover their magical connection. Throughout the continuing story of Danny and Sandy's difficult on/off romance, we also follow the exploits of the other characters in their circle – the risqué relationship between Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and Rizzo (Stockard Channing); the rivalry between the T-Birds and another gang, the Scorpions, culminating in a classic car race; an impending dance contest at Rydell; and the final graduation (and goodbyes) of each of the gang.
What makes Grease work above everything else is the charm, enthusiasm and energy with which it is presented. There's a sense of everyone pulling in the same direction, entering into the spirit of things in a manner that becomes immediately infectious. The characters are at once lovable and identifiable; their actions and reactions cleverly tuned into real people and real feelings, but dressed up in a joyous musical approach. The musical set pieces are very well done indeed – all the songs pretty much deliver, getting the audience toe-tapping in spite of themselves. Best of all is the sensational closing number, You're The One That I Want, brilliantly choreographed against a fairground backdrop, and featuring Newton John shedding her bookish image and wooing Danny in cinema's most infamous tight leather pants. Performance-wise the film is generally pretty good. Travolta and Newton John have a lovely chemistry, even if their characters are a mite too broadly painted at times. Channing is fabulous as the scene-stealing Rizzo, and Eve Arden has some moments of pure comedic gold as the disapproving school principal Miss McGee. Enduringly popular, always fresh and fun to watch, and a real sing-along favourite, Grease is vastly entertaining if nothing else. Yes, its narrative meanders without much direction at times, but Grease is still a blast.