You should be dancing

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2012)

The rap on SNF today is that it is dated. The music, the dance moves, the clothes, and this supposedly detracts from the film. Personally I don't get this, every film that is about a specific place and time ends up 'dated'. Some even start out that way. If a movie was made today in 2012, about the disco scene from the mid 70's, wouldn't they use similar music, dance moves and fashions as SNF does? The 'dated' complaint is senseless, in my opinion.
Saturday Night Fever begins with a lot of visceral energy as we learn about Tony Manero and his obsession with disco dancing and hanging with his lower class Italian crew. There is a vibrancy to the film that jumps off the screen. As the thin plot unwinds, some of the energy unwinds with it.
There is a raw appeal to the street milieu that carries us through some of the more pedestrian scenes and conversations, but as expected, it is when the music is playing and the feet are moving that Saturday Night Fever comes alive.