Cult Movie Challenge 2018 | 36/52 | USA Up All Night
In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Tony Manero compares the heels of his shoes to those in the window. His is higher — life is good. He struts down the road, can of paint in hand, his shirt open, his jacket leather. A couple of slices of pizza, a blue shirt on layaway, and an awkward encounter with a woman, and he’s back at Mr. Fusco’s hardware store, where he upsells an angry customer on the paint he just brought in. He asks Mr. Fusco for an advance, but Fusco tells him to plan for his future.
— Fuck the future.
— No, Tony, you can't fuck the future, the future fucks you.
He gets home, ignores his parents’ yelling, and gets ready for a night at his favorite discothèque, 2001 Odyssey. His parents wish Tony were like his brother, Frank Jr., who became a priest, even though Frank never calls or visits. Tony’s crew, Joey, Double J, Gus, and Bobby C, pick him up on their way to the disco. They’ve got their pills. They’ve got their rampant racism and homophobia. They’re ready to party. Now, they just gotta find some woman to bring back to Bobby C’s car, whether she wants to or not.
Life may kick Tony’s ass out in the world, but at the 2001 Odyssey, he is that dude. His friends defer to him, folks know him by name, and girls seek him out for dances. Annette approaches Tony at the disco about a dance competition. Tony isn’t that into Annette, but agrees to consider it if she’s willing to work hard. Things might go well, except Tony goes gaga over another dancer, Sephanie Mangano.
Is Tony going to figure out that this life has nothing for him? Or will he go down with the ship?
You're a cliche. You're nowhere, on your way to no place.
The most iconic aspect of this movie is the soundtrack, bar none. The Bee Gees’ tracks have permeated culture for years. The other tracks are absolute bops. This record is the only movie soundtrack I’ve bought on vinyl.
It’s weird seeing a disco with no black people, since they invented disco, but I guess they were heavily segregated. Italians were trying to be white and all that.
I had to do some reading to learn that there are two cuts of this movie. The original cut, the one I saw, was R-rated, but the one your mom saw when she was 16 was probably the PG cut, which removes the nudity, slurs, profanity, and SA scenes. When they finally got the PG cut out, they’d do double features with Grease.
I’m not saying the movie NEEDS those things, but as it is, without those scenes, you might be under the mistaken notion that Tony’s an alright guy. He’s not. He’s a racist rapist asshole. And listening to him clap along to a 4-on-the-floor disco track is torture. Dude can’t find a beat to save his life.
Stephanie is Tony’s introduction to life outside Bay Ridge. I mean, Stephanie’s from Bay Ridge, but she aspires to live in Manhattan, live as the upper crust do. She’s drinking tea with lemon now, trying out ballet at the dance studio. Tony’s so smitten, he acts like he knows what she’s talking about. Like, Laurence Olivier, he’s good, right?
Nik Cohn’s New York article, which served as the basis for this movie, later turned out to be total fiction. But at the time this came out, people thought the scene was like this. And so, fiction becomes fact as white folks get into disco thanks to this movie. Well, except for the rock nerds like my dad, who hated any music that sounded like a racial minority performed it.
Don’t let the glitz fool you — this story is bleak, especially the climax. It doesn’t hit me the way it has other folks. I don’t think it earns some of its dramatic beats, and others are treated too lightly. That said, I appreciate the cultural impact and the hilariously mediocre dancing.
There's ways of killing yourself without killing yourself.