A good movie with even better musical numbers

Rating: 8/10 (3 November 2002)

Grease as a movie is a good movie. Just like Footloose, it is the songs and the dancing in it that make it so enduring and rewatchable. I think the acting is okay for the most part. The best performance comes from Stockard Channing as Rizzo the leader of the Pink Ladies. She has the most complex character to play and she pulls it off very well. I think the actions of the T-Birds minor players, Doodie, Sunny, Putzzie are immature and stupid and don't seem to fit in with Danny and Kenickie coolness and take away from this movie; just like Jar Jar ruined Star Wars everytime he was in a scene. Look even their names are dumb. THe least enjoyable song and dance number was "Beauty school Dropout" because i thought it was an unneccesarry detour in the movie. The best song and dance number was "You're the One I Want" because I liked Oliva Newton John in that black outfit and "Summer Nights" because of the way Danny and Sandy are singing together. I was more interested in following the relationship between Rizzo and Kenickie which had more layers and complications to it thAN OF Danny and Sandy which was simply a love story of bad boy and good girl falling for each other. There are a lot of subtle and not so subtle references to taboo stuff, like teenage sex, oral sex, condum use, pregnacy, corutption of a minor by a tv personality, underage drinking and smoking, street racing and how the best way to get someone to love you is to change who you are even if that means dressing like some street walker; which I found surprising in a movie from the 1970's aimed at it's target audience of young people. So overall this movie is enjoyable and gets 8/10 in my books