Sweet sump oil is just false 50's nostalgia

Rating: 2/10 (4 March 2018)

A shallow, accessible big studio trifle which had the right songs, the right stars and the right 'feel good' vibe AT THE TIME for the comfortable, uncritical (mainly) white, middle-class audience that it was expressly made for and hyped to in the late 70's. As a light, frothy, inconsequential film which thoroughly entertained its undemanding demographic audience, it was a marketer's dream. The film does not stand up to any sort of critical scrutiny, but it was never meant to. Phony situations, lazy plotting, forced tension, pretentious drama and most of all a naive and ignorant knowledge of teenage culture at the time combine to make this the perfect 'false nostalgia' film (ie. a clever lie) - we are drawn in to pining for a guilt-free innocent past that never existed. 'Grease' treats its characters and 'story line' in a camp, jokey way without ever taking the leap into satire, which would have made for a much better film. Rizzo's persona & worldly cynicism is what a better film might have explored; this is why she feels like the most authentic character in this.
The filmmakers treat the story's participants as silly, which undercuts any kind of believable tenderness and tension between the main characters, so any attempt at meaningfully exploring what 'real' teenagers actually go through (peer group pressure, finding identity, discovering romance, breaking up, making up) is lost.
What's left? 'Grease' is primarily a catchy soundtrack over which pretty, innocent, meaningless pictures and story are laid - you are in effect 'watching' the soundtrack, like an extended MTV-style music clip, which this film helped usher in via 80's pop culture.
Want something better, with good songs, but also believable drama? Watch 'American Graffiti', or even better, find "American Hot Wax'' and see what a good filmmaker did with similar source material. '..Wax' was my 'Grease' of 1978; better made, gritty, knowing and believable......that's why it found a very limited audience. Enough said !!!