Some Really Fun Songs

Rating: 7/10 (25 April 2006)

John Travolta is coming off his Vinnie Barbarino persona. He mugs for the camera. He plays the dummy too often. He is totally a child of peer pressure. I end up thinking, I don't really give a damn if the two of them ever get together. Does anyone else care. The movie is lightweight, but it never takes itself seriously anyway. It's a series of really great songs and interactions, primarily among the hoodlum element of the fifties (who seem to be the standard bearers of that time, even though most kids weren't part of that culture). The movie rides along on its production numbers which put forth the things that kids thought important at the time. There's the fear of pregnancy. The fear of being an outcast. The cars. The primping and showing off. The worst thing of all--being labeled a good person. The adults are even bigger buffoons. And the fact that an older Frankie Avalon shows up, doesn't quite work. These guys are dying off now so they probably will have to start casting people to play them as characters. Anyway, if I pick up this movie, I fast forward to about ten places that I totally enjoy and ignore the plot (I guess there is a plot somewhere, but it doesn't matter). I was surprised that Travolta is a pretty decent singer.