Kitsch saved by extreme musicality

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2020)

"Grease" is a 1978 musical directed by Randal Kleiser starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. For I am some sort of musical actor myself (Ten Sing, anyone?), I from time to time love to see films that depict exactly what happens when my two greatest passions collide, and hence I have a weakness for titles of this generally derided subgenre. To this day, I cannot really understand why. What is so hilarious about when two of the greatest forms of art go hand in hand? Of course, it appears rather ridiculous when characters all suddenly sing and dance about their deepest desires, but that's the charm of this genre. No matter, how many people apparently dislike them, they are and have always been popular and successful works of art. One must only think about genre defining classic "Singin' In The Rain", of which the titular song is still popular among school choirs (believe me, I speak from experience), or Damien Chazelle's masterful modern masterpiece "La La Land", each generation has at least one iconic musical that defined it and of which the songs have been sung by each and everyone who has seen it at that time. When it comes to deciding what the ultimate box office hit of the seventies is, most people settle for this greasy romantic musical, but, as the past has proven it numerous time, does iconic necessarily mean it is of high quality? Well, I can comprehend the general attraction for this flick here, but for me there are too many things that keep me from declaring it grandiose. What grants this film most of its point is without a doubt the well-marked talent of its charismatic lead actors. Travolta and Newton-John are both truly gifted and I wonder if there is anything they can't do. His tenor and her soprano harmonize wonderfully when they sing together, but also in their solo songs they know to display their extreme musicality. As if that wasn't already enough, they also dance to it impressively and also do not forget about acting on an equally terrific level. This could have been enough if it wasn't for the major problems that the odd screenplay causes. Set in the carefree year of 1958, an archetypal greaser falls in love with an innocent Australian beauty over the summer and they live out their relationship like it was the last chance to ever experience love in their young lives, for they are aware that they'll probably never see each other again, but as chance would have it, they of course realize after the lovely vacation that they are now attending the same high school. Will they be able to rekindle their romance or will the flame stay out forever? This is the promising question that made me curious about this film in the first place, but in the end, it turns out that the plot depicted here is far away from being what it originally promised. In this love, peace and harmony kind of musical, invariably everyone is overacting, and sadly, it isn't the pleasant kind of overstated anymore. It is exaggerated to the certain degree where it becomes utterly annoying. There wasn't a single second of seriousness the film would have benefitted from immensely and I felt teased by it rather than entertained. While this effect is kept in reasonable limits in the case of our leading lovebirds, I felt provoked by the silliness of all the supporting characters. What amazes me the most about them, though, is how despite their unnecessarily high amount of screen time, I wasn't able to find a connection to them, nor did they become likeable in the slightest. Speaking of screen time, it was astonishing to see how Danny and Sandy barely share any time together and were pushed in the background in favour of elaborating the supporting characters. Seriously, I felt betrayed that the allegedly wonderful romance that was implied in the beginning isn't what the main focus lies on in this film. That's why it was extremely difficult to believe that they actually love one another. Aside from the fact that the conflict that the presence of his friends while flirting with Sandy bothers Zuko a lot isn't even thematized at all (by the way, they are always there and know that they date and none of them seems to have a problem with it except for him), the only development we get to see happening between them is a simple and dumb pattern. They argue, make up, argue, make up and argue and all the time Zuko behaves like the greatest jerk you will ever see. Not only does this make their so-called romance appear unconvincing, it also entails that there is zero chemistry between the two. For a couple that ostensibly spent the whole summer together in love, this is awfully inauthentic. Next to this, I am also not fully satisfied with the soundtrack. While iconic aestival anthem "Summer Nights" made me have a blast (pun intended) and a few other songs were acceptably decent as well, the majority of the songs were either boring or pointless and contributed nothing of importance to the plot ("Beauty School Drop-Out" - what in the actual hell?). By the way, did I say plot? As funny as it sounds, despite its promising premise, there is barely one. The few sequences that happen throughout the film (the dance off, the car race etc.) are boring and only function as stupid joints to set up the next musical act. I am aware that it was originally a Broadway show conceptualised for a stage, but that doesn't entitle it to have an unexciting and pointless plot. As if that wasn't already enough, the ending is the two-step peak of all the previous nonsense. First, the fact that Zuko is only able to accept Sandy after she had an offscreen makeover and all suddenly turned into some sort of greaser chick, isn't only conveying the totally wrong message that women should change so that their moronic lovers are able to love them, it also deprives the whole romantic conflict of its credibility and dramatic potential. What ultimately gave me the rest was when they drove off into the sky ... Why? Just why? That was the exact moment I facepalmed and the film lost all seriousness for me. All in all, this iconic musical hits the right tones in terms of musicality and dancing, but is heavily off-key in terms of narration, plot and acting. It all appears to be some sort of unpleasant caricature with a dull story and annoying characters I couldn't find any form of connection with, everything is without rhyme or reason. On top of that, it is cheesy, corny and so overstuffed with ludicrous kitsch that it made me want to throw up most of the time. Grease is the word - and like any form of fat it might appear to be good for some, but deep inside we all know it is anything but healthy - and in this case it was definitely not good for me. If it wasn't for the musical achievement and the individual charisma of its leads, it would have been way worse. I even would buy the soundtrack, but the film as a whole? Nah. For now, it is borderline mediocre. Now I feel the need to wash my hair ... it feels ... greasy.