I’d somehow convinced myself that this film was 2+ hours long and as such, i’ve had it on the backburner for a couple of years, waiting for a long weekend, or some vacation time to give it the plunge. Well, its a memorial weekend, and I just spent 94 minutes in the company of Olivia Newton John, ELO and Gene Kelly learning a valuable life lesson on finding a reason to keep on trucking, and I had a really good time.
Xanadu was the butt of many a joke through the 80s and 90s, it almost seems like an easy target, an oft surreal at times, Camp without being ‘rocky horror’ style aggressive, upbeat muscial not only harkening back to the golden age of musical cinema, but attemping to almost bridge the gap (quite literally) between those heady days of the 40s and 50s, and the all electric ‘new wave’ stylings of the 80s.
The film follows album artist Sonny Malone, a man frustrated by his work as he doesnt have the inspiration or steerage to drive his own projects, but when employed, he’s told to simply use his craft, rather than his emotions. Sonny recently quit the album game to try and go solo, but due to paid gigs not quite taking off, he’s back under strict guidence from his boss.
Things arnt looking to great for Sonny, that is until one of his own creations gives him a mystery, a rollar skating lady called Kira, who enters Sonnys life purely by random, at first in a blink and you’ll miss it intro, but later as the proposed cover art to one of Sonnys upcoming art pieces.
Captivated Sonny tries to learn more, and by chance eventually encounters Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) a former artist who ALSO had a run in with a mystery girl back in the 30s and 40s while working with Glenn Millar, who left those days behind him in 1945 to focus on building a stable career.
Between them, both Danny and Sonny will discover the Kira is far more than just some rollar skating mystery, and in it will form a bond uniting two artists in a common goal, to reignite the passion they still have for their craft. In all it’s alt art deco 50s on 80s vivid colour explosive glory.
Right off the bat, I can kind of understand why some folks were turned off by this picture, fans coming off of ‘Grease’ into this for the ‘Newton John’ factor would likely have been dissapointed that this wasnt an out and out comedy in which ‘hunky guy, meets sexy girl’ and 50s shenanigans ensue.
It doesnt help either that the opening of the film is a little slow to get going, and the subtext of the film a little more advanced that just LITERALLY showing and telling people whats on screen. Indeed I feel sorry for anyone who went to this film expecting something like ‘Grease’ and got baffled for 94 minutes about talks of ‘dreams’ and ‘muses’.
As for me? I went in with the bar on the floor after years of this film being a punchline, and once I got past the first act, I loved it. ‘They dont make’em like they used to’ is often thrown around these days, but with ‘Xanadu’ they really dont. A film that is so unapologetically upbeat and not playing itself as ‘self aware’ in doing so. This is just a big, at times silly, bag of cheer of a film with a core message, as Gene Kelly so wonderfully puts it, that ‘Dreams dont die on there own, we allow them to be killed’.
While I think the plot of the script is a little stop/start, the core messaging and tone of the film is delightful. I love how we see the paralells between Danny and Sonnys characters, the former an artist who clung tightly to his vision, and fell out of style waiting for it to come back. and Sonny, a man on a similar path, learning the need to grow and develop to avoid the same fate.
Through the runtime these two men help each other to try and create a new vision, implementing aspects of the things Danny loved so much, with the things Sonny wishes he could get people on board with. Its a strong message not to let your dreams die, and to keep developing and growing your own dreams to keep the inspiration alive. And while, it may be a bit suspect in 2024, to have the very concept of a ‘Muse’, a dream, be a beautiful women from an objectification standpoint. I feel like, for 1980. its a strong message to lead with.
As mentioned the scripts a slow starter, but around the 2nd act it picks up a clip and once it builds up a head of steam, this film really doesnt stop, delivering a grand and satisfying closure to the film that really channels the overarching messaging. I think it nails the balance between being campy without being TOO goofy, and sentimental without getting TOO schmaltzy really quite well.
The characters are all pretty decently fleshed out within the world the film takes place in, I think a minor drawback here is, it would have been nice to see more ‘muses’ or to actually explore the concept of how inspiration isnt necessarily sauced from a single place. it might have been nice to have seen a ‘muse’ based on nostalgia, a ‘muse’ based on sadness etc…something to have really given the film just a bit more of an extra dimension and point of interest beyond Olivia Newton John being the central figure of all inspiration.
I think it may have also been in the films interest to give Danny and Sonny a bit more of a complicated relationship as a means of shoring up that first act a bit more. As it stands, the two meet on a beach, grab a coffee and suddenly, they’re in a palace jamming to Glenn Millar and are about to go into business together…It would have been nice to see the pair maybe have a contrast of opinion, to maybe have a bit of a struggle, but to make that difference of opinion the thing that holds them together stronger. It all felt a little bit too easy.
Kira too seems a little flat in the first act, as a character, she seems to mainly only pop in and out for the first act and when she does turn up, its usually just to ask questions to Danny and Sonny, then leave. I think it probably would have made more sense for Kiras presence in the film to have grown and grown, and for her to start shaping Danny and Sonnys world (as inspiration does) rather than her just basically being an individual that questions their motives.
On the direction front, its wonderful. a sense of grandness seldom seen in cinema at this point in time, Robert Greenwald manages to capture the feeling and tone of the golden age of musicals while blowing a new lease of neon soaked life into it with that 80s twist. Its a very creative picture for the time that revels in 50s and 80s culture, taking every opportunity to slam them together into something all together rather groovy. While I Think at time its a little *too* heavy handed on the ‘SEE!? THE 50S AND 80S WERE MORE SIMILAR THAN YOU THINK!’ messaging…where it hits. it hits for me, and we have a very professional piece that is ABSOLUTELY not afraid to experiement. Going so far as to even getting the wonderful Don Bluthe in to work on a few scenes that I felt really elevated the film to the next level.
The cine is delightful, constantly moving, creative, largely well composed. There were a few shots that seemed to lack focus here and there that were used as cutaways. But I can be merciful when this same film ALSO provides us with the frankly EPIC finale sequence that it does. The edit is largely tight, focussed on precise cuts and I love love LOVE! the creative transitions slides used across the movie, it really gives the film an additional layer of identity and I wish more films were creative with how they handle scene changes.
Performance wise? I have to give it to Michael Beck and Gene Kelly. their relationship on screen is played with absolute sincerity, they have a strong on screen presence and it ties nicely into the ‘bridging the generational gap via the dream of a common endeavour’ themes the scripts working towards.
Kelly here is wonderful, playing an upbeat on the surface but whistful for his lost past just beneath it character, his spry, lively and gets a really solid range to work here. I think he’s arguably one of the best parts of this film, and his dance numbers and physical performances across this film CLEARLY showed that there was life in the old dog yet.
Becky too has a fairly animated presence. I do kind of wish the script had fleshed him out a little more, as we really spend most of the film dealing with him in the ‘here and now’ with not a whole lot of information on how he got to where he is to go off. It feels very much like he’s a bridging catalyst between Kira and Danny, aiding him to recapture his dreams and inspirations. But he does get his own character arc that is resolved pretty satisfactorally. I do wish he’d had a bit more range however.
I mean, you know a films onto a good thing, when the weakest element is Olivia Newton John, who’s physical and muscial performances here are absolutely faultless…her acting though… … … d’yer like physical and musical performances? shes great at those! The rest of the cast are all vibrant, animate and lively bringing a real sense of wonder and scale to the production. and the choreography of the musical numbers really is superb, borrowing some of the better routines from muscials of yesteryear and marrying them up to modern dance sensibilities. they’re brilliant.
But easily, the very VERY best thing about ‘Xanadu’ is its soundtrack and musical numbers. Geoff Lynn and ELO craft a GORGEOUS score to this film that just oozes personality, with hits such as the titular ‘Xanadu’ and ‘All Over the World’ being married up to some lovely ballads such as ‘suspended in time’, or charming and reflective tracks like ‘Whenever your away from me’. its a wonderful mesh of 80s influenced 50s motivated hybrid tracks. and its as well rounded, full and pleasent as you can imagine.
Is ‘Xanadu’ perfect? no. its a little way off that, but this IS a very charming and quite contageous love letter to the days gone by, and anyone who’s ever had and lost a dream. if you can make it through that first act, you’ll be rewarded ten fold. I guarentee it.
TYTD Reviews 