Grease is Good Salve For Shark Bites - Longview Daily News

If you're allergic to the killer bees, resurrected killer sharks and deadly dull comedies that were well on their way to making this the summer of our cinematic discontent, try a little Grease.

The PG-rated film version of the long-running Broadway musical is at the Longview Theatre and it has to qualify as the most agreeable movie fare to hit town this summer. Starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Grease is a two-hour musical-comedy tribute to the '50s.

That kind of nostalgia trip has become somewhat passed. American Graffiti, after all, did it several years ago, and Happy Days has been a fixture on television for some time. Even the Broadway version of Grease is practically ancient. Why wait this long to bring the musical to the big screen? With disco the current craze, will audiences really turn out for a celebration of the relatively primitive music of the '50s?

The answer to that last question is an emphatic yes, and that's undoubtedly due in great measure to the shrewd casting of John Travolta, fresh from Saturday Night Fever, in the lead role.

Travolta was made for the part of Danny Zuko, the greaser who falls for the pretty, innocent Sandy (Newton-John) and has to deal with the conflict between his feelings and the pressure to maintain his macho image.

His timing in the comedy scenes is impeccable. There's a good dose of Vinnie Barbarino here, but Travolta also brings some new facets to the role.

Particularly funny are the scenes where Zuko has decided to become a jock to impress Sandy. The ethics of the street gang prevail as Travolta slugs wrestling and basketball opponents in the stomach when things don't go his way.

Like Travolta, Newton-John seems a natural for her role. It is doubtful any other 29-year-old could have brought off the part as a high school bobby soxer, but the Australian songstress manages it quite well.

There are some fine performances among the supporting cast as well. Most everyone seems to capture the right degree of comic caricature without overplaying it.

Dody Goodman, as the school secretary, provides some zany moments by just being well. Dody Goodman. And Dennis Stewart, as the leader of a rival gang. should get an Oscar for his acne. Superb.

The story line isn't so complicated as to slow things down (Travolta meets Newton-John during a summer at the beach, is reunited with her for their senior year at Rydell High School, and at year's end they drive off into the clouds in their souped-up roadster).

The writing is fast-paced and bright (what you'd expect from a good Broadway comedy), and things move rapidly and hilariously-along.

But the production numbers are probably the movie's high points. Travolta's Greased Lightning' car fantasy number and Frankie Avalon as a guardian angel (dressed in white) who consoles one of the girls with his in-the-clouds rendition of Beauty School Dropout are perhaps the best. They capture in caricature form the flavor of the '50s, and they're hilarious.

The milieu-setting details are there, as they were in American Graffiti. and they amuse and set the mood (remember The Blob and Bucky Beaver pushing Ipana toothpaste?) without overpowering the picture.

If there are lapses, they are few and quite forgivable. (The beginning and ending theme song, Grease, has a definite disco beat-not surprising considering it was composed by Bee Gee Barry Gibb and Newton-John sings a song specifically composed for her for this picture, Hopelessly Devoted to You, which sounds more like the Newton-John '70s single it is than an authentic '50s number.)

But in all, Grease is an agreeable blend of music and comedy and nostalgia, culminating in a good old Technicolor happy ending featuring Travolta and Newton-John in their hit duet, You're the One That I Want.

It should salve those bee stings and shark bites quite nicely.

By David Rorden