Xanadu Musical Hits Sour Note with Critics
Silly stories can be salvaged by good music.
It's happened on screen dozens of times, most recently with Grease
and Saturday Night Fever
. Even the dreadful Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
was made bearable by heavy doses of the Lennon-MeCartney magic.
But even Magic,
All Over The World
and I'm Alive
, can't pump enough oxygen into Xanadu
to revive it.
Director Robert Greenwald had to work doubly hard to ruin a musical featuring screen heavyweights Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, and already boasting three hit songs, but he manages, by movie's end, to create the musical-comedy.
Turkey of the year. Xanadu
is a 93-minute spool of wasted celluloid that is neither musical nor funny.
The songs, good material penned by the Electric Light Orchestra's Jeff Lynne, seem to have been filtered through a transistor radio. Instead of coming across as musical numbers, the tunes seem to be scratched 45s being played off camera by the film crew.
There is nary a laugh nor chuckle in the course of the film. The highlight of the intended comedy is the introduction of Mrs Zeus,
who finally convinces her hubby to let muse Olivia enter the real world for a moment or forever
.
Acting, especially by Michael Beck, who plays the main character, is atrocious. One suspects all of the storyline was filmed in one take, so a concentrated effort could be given to the production numbers.
Miss Newton-John and Kelly contribute effortless performances, and are obviously waiting out the ridiculous dialogue for their chance to sing and dance.
The duo manages to pull out a trite dream sequence with some cute footwork, but Kelly is embarrassingly out of place in a scene where he tries out dozens of suits hoping to find one suitable for the opening night of his new club. He finally settles on a cowboy costume.
Olivia dominates the big finale, staged on the main floor of Kelly's new nightclub. In an unintended hit of irony, the club scene is shot from above an angle where no patron could appreciate the kaleidoscope effect of the dance movements. From eye level, the choreography would amount to a mass of legs.
Even this scene is ruined by a bad editing. Olivia races from one song and one costume to another, for no apparent reason.
In the name of fantasy, Xanadu
includes a song performed over animation, and meshes live and animated action throughout. Disney has done better, but Xanadu
has its good moments as well. The sight of Miss Newton-John constantly surrounded by a red glow, however, becomes very tiring, as does her love affair with roller skates.
Reality and fantasy are never clearly distinguished. much to the chagrin of anyone in the audience trying to follow the inane plot. Although Olivia's muse character is never supposed to enter the real world, she apparently was Kelly's real
girlfriend in 1945, and certainly makes several real
appearances to Beck. Kelly, by the way, never realizes that the muse was at one time his girlfriend, although Beck recognizes the resemblance immediately.
An elderly lady, seated behind me at Sunday's viewing, was obviously perplexed by the mass confusion on screen. I don't understand this.
she told her husband You're not supposed to.
her husband answered matter-of-factly. It's fantasy
.
By Terry Hazlett Entertainment Critic
Ottawa Citizen, Aug 26 1980, Canada
Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John was born a disco-roller movie, but when that fad died on-screen (witness the flops of Skatetown, U.S.A. and Roller Boogie) it was remolded as a dance extravaganza, with a few numbers by veteran hoofer Gene Kelly blown out of all proportion in promotion for the feature.
It opened to savage reviews two weeks ago; it opens here at St. Laurent 1.
Orange Coast, Aug 01 1980, USA
By the time these words see print, it's a safe bet that the musical fantasy Xanadu will not be among the blockbusters at your neighborhood theater.
This isn't so much because it's an especially abominable film, but primarily because it's the victim of the shoddiest promotional efforts I've seen. Flanked by ads which fail miserably at capturing the glitter and glamour of this fantasy flick, and with nary a press screening or premiere to speak of, Universal has dumped this picture on the public as though it were a bastard child.
It's unfortunate, because Xanadu is truly a lavish, visual treat. It's cornball, schmaltzy and could even prove a bit hazardous to diabetics, but it's fun when accepted for what it is. Filled with special effects, dancing, music and romance, Xanadu is great escape for the young and young at heart.
Olivia Newton-John is Kira, a muse sent from the heavens to help Danny (Gene Kelly) and Sonny (Michael Beck) transform their dreams into reality. Danny's a wealthy, unhappily retired jazz musician who longs for the magic and music of days gone by. Sonny dreams of the days ahead-he's a creative artist who's growing weary of painting record company billboards.
When Kira descends, fabulous happenings abound. She and Sonny fall in love, and the two men combine forces to create Xanadu, the ultimate nightclub; a fabulous world where the 1940s big band era and today's electric, heavy metal rock blend in perfect harmony.
If little else, Xanadu is squeaky clean. It's scrubbed and sparkling, and is without a doubt the purest family film on the screen today. But there's also trouble in utopian Xanadu, not the least of which is an old timer whose dancing ain't what it used to be, a totally forgettable young co-star, and a bland leading lady who, bless her little Australian heart, is no more exciting than a loaf of Wonder Bread.
To proceed any further-to attack the project for being superficial and too wholesome, for example - is rather like defeating Whistler's Mother in an arm-wrestling competition. It's just too damn easy, and what's the point?