By Matt Brunson
XANADU (1980)
*
(But probably **** if you attend with a bunch of bad-movie buffs)
DIRECTED BY Robert Greenwald
STARS Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly
For about 50 years, the musical was one of Hollywood's most reliable genres, from Busby Berkeley and Astaire-Rogers in the 1930s through Saturday Night Fever and Grease in the 1970s. But it took only a handful of megabombs to kill off the genre, which has only recently shown occasional signs of renewed life thanks to the likes of Hairspray. Among the Hall of Fame turkeys from that lethal period were Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Can't Stop the Music, The Apple and this ghastly achievement that has nevertheless spawned a smash Broadway adaptation as well as legions of devoted groupies.
The fans are welcome to this one: Managing to trumpet the worst excesses of both the fading '70s disco craze and the burgeoning '80s New Wave scene, this calamity stars Olivia Newton-John as Kira, a heavenly muse sent to inspire struggling artist Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) to realize his dream of becoming a success. It's strictly a hands-off assignment, meaning complications ensue when Kira falls in love with the guy.
Pop star Newton-John received a unanimous drubbing for her one-note performance (thereby killing any chance of a sustained film career), but truthfully, co-star Beck is even worse. The tragedy is that this curdled kitsch marked the final big-screen outing for the legendary Gene Kelly: The man who delighted us with Singin' In the Rain and On the Town (among others) certainly deserved better.
Thankfully, director Robert Greenwald's career survived this, as he's now one of our preeminent helmers of honest and informative movies railing against the anti-American right-wing agenda (e.g. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties).
(Xanadu will be screened at 8 p.m. Monday, July 25, at Actors Theatre, 650 E. Stonewall St. The movie is being shown as part of the Cult Movie Monday series presented by The Light Factory and Theatre 650. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission and popcorn are free; cash bar available. Details here.)