Classic moments but mostly rancid and dumb

Rating: 5/10 (5 December 2003)

Tony is a NY roughneck with a low IQ and a job in a paint store, but manages to find relief and recognition through his Saturday night disco dancing.
One of the real curiosities of modern cinema, this bit of guff-among-the-grunts spawned one of the world's biggest albums and a whole disco industry; but at the same time is clearly a thrown together script based on a short article published in a little read newspaper.
(You can read it in full as part of the rock and pop anthology "The Faber Book of Pop" - a highly recommended read if you can find it.)
I can't think of any film in which the message and style of the music contrasts more with what appears in visual form. Thank god the Bee Gee's wrote the music in glorious isolation to the crass, dark and ugly images.
Here we have death, gang rape, homophobia (thrown in twice in case you went to the bathroom the first time around), racism, violence and family conflict. Like a checklist from the cheap thrills section of the Bumper Book of Teen Movie Clichés. Yes these things exist in real life, but surely we need a point to go along with them? So much that happens here has no consequence or knock-on effect, beyond things like a token cop scribbling on his notepad before tipping his hat.
Take away the music and the dancing (which are sadly brief) and what you have is two hours trapped with foul-mouthed morons who spit out their food as they talk (boy has that John T actually swallowed a few burgers since those days!) and walk on the tables to leave.
SNF is one of those movies that would be better if no one saw it as a whole, but only saw via those brief clips we see on TV - especially those played out against the Bee Gee's better work.
Yes Travolta can dance and is a bit double jointed, but he isn't that good. He doesn't even really win the contest down at the 2001 Disco. Let's not get too carried away here, he is still only a talented amateur impressing the locals who don't know any better.
If you watch it on video you should at least keep your finger on the fast forward and rewind button. You'll need it...