Xanadu, Updating of Down To Earth
There was every reason to suspect that “Xanadu” (selected theaters) would prove to be a “Xana-don’t” when the much-ballyhooed, $17-million musical opened Friday without benefit of press previews.
To be sure, it’s no “Singin’ in the Rain,” but by golly it does have that classic’s vibrant and charming star Gene Kelly and is a perfectly aссерtable summer cooler that’s been smoothly directed by Robert Greenwald in his theatrical feature debut.
It’s a sort of updating of “Down to Earth,” which starred Rita Hayworth as Terpsichore, the muse of dance who materializes as a Broadway chorine. This time Terpsichore is Olivia Newton-John, and she comes down to earth to provide the spark of inspiration for a nightclub called Xanadu to be opened (at the old Pacific Auditorium) by Kelly, a one-time big-band era clarinetist, and Michael Beck, a daydreaming young album cover artist. To Kelly, Newton-John is the reincarnation of a band singer he once loved, but he leaves the romance to Beck, who provokes in the goddess an all-too-human response.
So much for the plot, which is but a pretext for a batch of musical numbers anyway. What “Xanadu’s” makers seemed to have in mind was the melding of Glenn Miller nostalgia and contemporary rock, at one point represented by the Tubes. The mix succeeds, but Jeff Lynne and John Farrar’s words and music are more serviceably pleasant and lively than hummably memorable.
Gene Kelly is such a joy. Writers Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel allow him to be himself and be his age. Therefore, being comfortable he can cut loose with a display of easy agility and timeless grace. There’s a lovely fantasy duet with Newton-John and later on a roller disco number that has Kelly leading the pack. Would that Newton-John and Beck, who are pleasant and attractive but awfully bland, had some of Kelly’s style and personality.
Martin Scorsese liked to describe “New York, New York” as a film noir musical, but either by accident or design “Xanadu” (MPAA-rated: PG) is quite literally that, a movie so dark that at times it’s actually hard to see what’s going on, which is at odds with the film’s otherwise tonic effect and which dims the considerable contributions of production designer John W. Corso, costume designer Bobbie Mannix and choreographers Kenny Ortega and Jerry Trent.
The principal victim, however, is Newton-John, who at times is made to look about 40.
By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer
“XANADU”
A Universal presentation. Producer Lawrence Gordon. Director Robert Greenwald. Screenplay Richard Christian Danus, Marc Reid Rubel. Co-producer Joel Silver. Exec. producer Lee Kramer. Camera Victor J. Kemper. Production designer John W. Corso. Musical scoring Barry DeVorzon. Songs for Electric Light Orchestra by Jeff Lynne. Songs for Olivia Newton-John by John Farrar. Costumes Bobbie Mannix. Main title and special visual effects R. Greenberg Associates. Choreographers Kenny Ortega, Jerry Trent. Animation se-quence Don Bluth Productions. Assoc. producer Terry Nelson. Special synthesized effects Michael Boddicker/Bodifications Inc. Film editor Dennis Virkler. Running time: 1 hr., 33 min. MPAA-rated: PG (some parental guid-ance advised).