I must admit that I was quite impressed with the fact that four different performers were used to piecemeal the final dance sequence together to give the impression that Alex Owens was a highly talented dancer and deserved a position at the prestigious and fictional Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. Beals did a limited number of dance moves in the film and the iconic final sequence featured in addition to Beals, four other performers, including a French woman, a male breakdancer and a professional gymnast. This final sequence is memorable to many and I have to admit that its clever lighting, camera angles and editing had me believing that Beals was a top-notch dancer. After doing some research for the review of this DVD release, the new knowledge that Beals did not dance and that the filmmakers had me completely fooled is perhaps my only positive appraisal of this film. This Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer collaboration only cements my belief that Joe Eszterhas is 0 for 2 when it comes to writing a dance-based film. This film, "Flashdance" and the later "Showgirls" are cinematic nightmares lacking any semblance of a plot and any true substance.
Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is an eighteen year old girl who works as a welder for a Pittsburgh steel company. That is only her day job. At night, she is a dancer for a nightclub that features costume dressed dancers and stylized dancing that competes with local topless joints. Being a Pennsylvania boy, I am overly curious how an eighteen year old girl would secure a job as a welder in Pittsburgh and how a club of fully clothed exotic dancers would succeed. There is far too much skilled labor in Pittsburgh and not enough job positions to fill the labor base for a girl fresh out of high school to become a skilled welder, as depicted in this film. Pittsburgh is about as blue collar a town as you will find. They drink Iron City beer (or the dreadful Iron City Light), bleed black and yellow and don´t get riled up over fancy dancing when there are strip clubs just down the street. I´ve spent enough time in the city and its suburbs to know how the city operates and while these themes may be remotely possibly elsewhere, it just doesn´t happen in the Burgh.
Rant aside, Alex spends her days welding and her nights dancing. Her real dream is to become a dancer and to gain entrance to the prestigious Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. The problem is Alex has no dancing background beyond her exotic dancing and has either taught herself her moves or learned from a retired ballet dancer, Hanna (Lilia Skala). When Alex shows up at PCoDR, she looks at the application and instantly realizes she doesn´t have any of the background they are looking for and she gives up on her pursuit of her dream. Any remaining enthusiasm to landing the position are further dashed when her best friend Jeanie (Sunny Johnson) fails miserably and fails twice during an ice skating competition and Alex sees the potential parallels. Alex also witnessed Jeanie´s boyfriend and the cook for the club she dances at get heckled at his attempts of being a comedian for the club. Soon, Alex looses the ambition and feels that her continued existence will continue as a welder and exotic dancer.
Her fortunes begin to change when she reluctantly accepts a date with the steel company´s boss, Nick (Michael Nouri). Nick drives a Porsche and is successful. She doesn´t want a relationship with her boss, but eventually gives in and begins a whirlwind romance. The relationship is hot and cold, as Alex sees Nick with his ex-wife and throws a brick through a window of his expensive house. After an explanation, she forgives him and their love affair gets back on track. Nick sees the talent in Alex and her dancing and when she finally submits her application to the PCoDR, Nick calls a few friends and arranges for Alex to get a tryout. She discovers this and is greatly angered. Nick is dumped and Alex states that she will not attend the arranged tryout. She wanted to do everything on her own and although she knows show probably would not have gotten the tryout without a little help, she is unphased in her reaction. When Alex sees her friend Jeanie dancing topless at a competing club, she gives Jeanie a speech about dreams and decides to attend the rehearsal and set the stage for the film´s most memorable dance sequence.
"Flashdance" is a film that I certainly do not fit within its target demographics. It is a film about dancing, relationships and not giving up on one´s dreams. Mostly, it is about the dancing. Being a Joe Eszterhas story, there is the expected topless nudity and sexual thematics. They ultimately work against the film, but are attempts at roping in some males as an audience. The hour and a half spent watching this film is a voyeuristic look at a short period in the life of the main character. You watch her suffer through a romance that perplexes, yet rewards her. You watch her dance and yearn to make her dancing the center focus of her life. You watch her sit around her apartment with her pet pit bull. The relationship between the two main actors is not fleshed out in any manner other than what serves to set up necessary plot points. There are no truly tender moments or romantic montages to sit through, but the dialogue between Alex and Nick is shallow and uninteresting. There is also a lot of dancing.
Carrying an R rating, "Flashdance" straddles the line of maintaining a family friendly environment and bringing out the naughtier side of Alex. She smokes a cigarette and she drops the f-bomb. Yet almost everything else she does is cute and kid-friendly, including much of her dancing. By not selling out entirely and becoming a PG or PG-13 rated picture, "Flashdance" has an odd sense of turmoil in its desired tone. Does it want to be a film that strives to entertain adults or does it want to be a dance movie that excites teenage girls? The picture definitely speaks to female viewers, but watching "Flashdance" shows the identity crisis suffered by the film´s production. The team of Simpson and Bruckheimer would become a powerhouse after this film and director Adrian Lyne has done well with "Fatal Attraction" and other films, but "Flashdance" is a movie that struggles to find itself and decide on what kind of movie it wants to be. It is caught somewhere in the middle of being a movie for adults and being a movie for teenagers. Watching the film feels like reading somebody´s diary that has had the naughty pages ripped out.
I can´t say that I enjoyed the film. I found the plot uninteresting and silly. With no consistent tone or direction for the film, "Flashdance" felt like a convoluted series of music videos. It lacked any dramatic moments and presented characters that were far too forgettable. Had it not been for the above average soundtrack that accompanied the production and the dance sequences that have been borrowed and parodied countless times over the years, "Flashdance" would too be forgettable. However, we all remember seeing Alex sitting in a chair and being drenched with water. We all remember seeing her sweat profusely in an incredibly energetic dance to the song "Maniac" and the iconic final sequence to Irene Cara´s "Flashdance… What A Feeling." As I said before, this is a movie about dancing and it is remembered for its dancing. I didn´t enjoy the film, but vividly remember the numerous songs and dances contained in this film. I can understand why many women love the movie and realize why the film was as successful as it was. For me, the film lacked conviction, direction and any true entertainment value.
Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is an eighteen year old girl who works as a welder for a Pittsburgh steel company. That is only her day job. At night, she is a dancer for a nightclub that features costume dressed dancers and stylized dancing that competes with local topless joints. Being a Pennsylvania boy, I am overly curious how an eighteen year old girl would secure a job as a welder in Pittsburgh and how a club of fully clothed exotic dancers would succeed. There is far too much skilled labor in Pittsburgh and not enough job positions to fill the labor base for a girl fresh out of high school to become a skilled welder, as depicted in this film. Pittsburgh is about as blue collar a town as you will find. They drink Iron City beer (or the dreadful Iron City Light), bleed black and yellow and don´t get riled up over fancy dancing when there are strip clubs just down the street. I´ve spent enough time in the city and its suburbs to know how the city operates and while these themes may be remotely possibly elsewhere, it just doesn´t happen in the Burgh.
Rant aside, Alex spends her days welding and her nights dancing. Her real dream is to become a dancer and to gain entrance to the prestigious Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. The problem is Alex has no dancing background beyond her exotic dancing and has either taught herself her moves or learned from a retired ballet dancer, Hanna (Lilia Skala). When Alex shows up at PCoDR, she looks at the application and instantly realizes she doesn´t have any of the background they are looking for and she gives up on her pursuit of her dream. Any remaining enthusiasm to landing the position are further dashed when her best friend Jeanie (Sunny Johnson) fails miserably and fails twice during an ice skating competition and Alex sees the potential parallels. Alex also witnessed Jeanie´s boyfriend and the cook for the club she dances at get heckled at his attempts of being a comedian for the club. Soon, Alex looses the ambition and feels that her continued existence will continue as a welder and exotic dancer.
Her fortunes begin to change when she reluctantly accepts a date with the steel company´s boss, Nick (Michael Nouri). Nick drives a Porsche and is successful. She doesn´t want a relationship with her boss, but eventually gives in and begins a whirlwind romance. The relationship is hot and cold, as Alex sees Nick with his ex-wife and throws a brick through a window of his expensive house. After an explanation, she forgives him and their love affair gets back on track. Nick sees the talent in Alex and her dancing and when she finally submits her application to the PCoDR, Nick calls a few friends and arranges for Alex to get a tryout. She discovers this and is greatly angered. Nick is dumped and Alex states that she will not attend the arranged tryout. She wanted to do everything on her own and although she knows show probably would not have gotten the tryout without a little help, she is unphased in her reaction. When Alex sees her friend Jeanie dancing topless at a competing club, she gives Jeanie a speech about dreams and decides to attend the rehearsal and set the stage for the film´s most memorable dance sequence.
"Flashdance" is a film that I certainly do not fit within its target demographics. It is a film about dancing, relationships and not giving up on one´s dreams. Mostly, it is about the dancing. Being a Joe Eszterhas story, there is the expected topless nudity and sexual thematics. They ultimately work against the film, but are attempts at roping in some males as an audience. The hour and a half spent watching this film is a voyeuristic look at a short period in the life of the main character. You watch her suffer through a romance that perplexes, yet rewards her. You watch her dance and yearn to make her dancing the center focus of her life. You watch her sit around her apartment with her pet pit bull. The relationship between the two main actors is not fleshed out in any manner other than what serves to set up necessary plot points. There are no truly tender moments or romantic montages to sit through, but the dialogue between Alex and Nick is shallow and uninteresting. There is also a lot of dancing.
Carrying an R rating, "Flashdance" straddles the line of maintaining a family friendly environment and bringing out the naughtier side of Alex. She smokes a cigarette and she drops the f-bomb. Yet almost everything else she does is cute and kid-friendly, including much of her dancing. By not selling out entirely and becoming a PG or PG-13 rated picture, "Flashdance" has an odd sense of turmoil in its desired tone. Does it want to be a film that strives to entertain adults or does it want to be a dance movie that excites teenage girls? The picture definitely speaks to female viewers, but watching "Flashdance" shows the identity crisis suffered by the film´s production. The team of Simpson and Bruckheimer would become a powerhouse after this film and director Adrian Lyne has done well with "Fatal Attraction" and other films, but "Flashdance" is a movie that struggles to find itself and decide on what kind of movie it wants to be. It is caught somewhere in the middle of being a movie for adults and being a movie for teenagers. Watching the film feels like reading somebody´s diary that has had the naughty pages ripped out.
I can´t say that I enjoyed the film. I found the plot uninteresting and silly. With no consistent tone or direction for the film, "Flashdance" felt like a convoluted series of music videos. It lacked any dramatic moments and presented characters that were far too forgettable. Had it not been for the above average soundtrack that accompanied the production and the dance sequences that have been borrowed and parodied countless times over the years, "Flashdance" would too be forgettable. However, we all remember seeing Alex sitting in a chair and being drenched with water. We all remember seeing her sweat profusely in an incredibly energetic dance to the song "Maniac" and the iconic final sequence to Irene Cara´s "Flashdance… What A Feeling." As I said before, this is a movie about dancing and it is remembered for its dancing. I didn´t enjoy the film, but vividly remember the numerous songs and dances contained in this film. I can understand why many women love the movie and realize why the film was as successful as it was. For me, the film lacked conviction, direction and any true entertainment value.
I must admit that I was quite impressed with the fact that four different performers were used to piecemeal the final dance sequence together to give the impression that Alex Owens was a highly talented dancer and deserved a position at the prestigious and fictional Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. Beals did a limited number of dance moves in the film and the iconic final sequence featured in addition to Beals, four other performers, including a French woman, a male breakdancer and a professional gymnast. This final sequence is memorable to many and I have to admit that its clever lighting, camera angles and editing had me believing that Beals was a top-notch dancer. After doing some research for the review of this DVD release, the new knowledge that Beals did not dance and that the filmmakers had me completely fooled is perhaps my only positive appraisal of this film. This Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer collaboration only cements my belief that Joe Eszterhas is 0 for 2 when it comes to writing a dance-based film. This film, "Flashdance" and the later "Showgirls" are cinematic nightmares lacking any semblance of a plot and any true substance.
Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is an eighteen year old girl who works as a welder for a Pittsburgh steel company. That is only her day job. At night, she is a dancer for a nightclub that features costume dressed dancers and stylized dancing that competes with local topless joints. Being a Pennsylvania boy, I am overly curious how an eighteen year old girl would secure a job as a welder in Pittsburgh and how a club of fully clothed exotic dancers would succeed. There is far too much skilled labor in Pittsburgh and not enough job positions to fill the labor base for a girl fresh out of high school to become a skilled welder, as depicted in this film. Pittsburgh is about as blue collar a town as you will find. They drink Iron City beer (or the dreadful Iron City Light), bleed black and yellow and don´t get riled up over fancy dancing when there are strip clubs just down the street. I´ve spent enough time in the city and its suburbs to know how the city operates and while these themes may be remotely possibly elsewhere, it just doesn´t happen in the Burgh.
Rant aside, Alex spends her days welding and her nights dancing. Her real dream is to become a dancer and to gain entrance to the prestigious Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. The problem is Alex has no dancing background beyond her exotic dancing and has either taught herself her moves or learned from a retired ballet dancer, Hanna (Lilia Skala). When Alex shows up at PCoDR, she looks at the application and instantly realizes she doesn´t have any of the background they are looking for and she gives up on her pursuit of her dream. Any remaining enthusiasm to landing the position are further dashed when her best friend Jeanie (Sunny Johnson) fails miserably and fails twice during an ice skating competition and Alex sees the potential parallels. Alex also witnessed Jeanie´s boyfriend and the cook for the club she dances at get heckled at his attempts of being a comedian for the club. Soon, Alex looses the ambition and feels that her continued existence will continue as a welder and exotic dancer.
Her fortunes begin to change when she reluctantly accepts a date with the steel company´s boss, Nick (Michael Nouri). Nick drives a Porsche and is successful. She doesn´t want a relationship with her boss, but eventually gives in and begins a whirlwind romance. The relationship is hot and cold, as Alex sees Nick with his ex-wife and throws a brick through a window of his expensive house. After an explanation, she forgives him and their love affair gets back on track. Nick sees the talent in Alex and her dancing and when she finally submits her application to the PCoDR, Nick calls a few friends and arranges for Alex to get a tryout. She discovers this and is greatly angered. Nick is dumped and Alex states that she will not attend the arranged tryout. She wanted to do everything on her own and although she knows show probably would not have gotten the tryout without a little help, she is unphased in her reaction. When Alex sees her friend Jeanie dancing topless at a competing club, she gives Jeanie a speech about dreams and decides to attend the rehearsal and set the stage for the film´s most memorable dance sequence.
"Flashdance" is a film that I certainly do not fit within its target demographics. It is a film about dancing, relationships and not giving up on one´s dreams. Mostly, it is about the dancing. Being a Joe Eszterhas story, there is the expected topless nudity and sexual thematics. They ultimately work against the film, but are attempts at roping in some males as an audience. The hour and a half spent watching this film is a voyeuristic look at a short period in the life of the main character. You watch her suffer through a romance that perplexes, yet rewards her. You watch her dance and yearn to make her dancing the center focus of her life. You watch her sit around her apartment with her pet pit bull. The relationship between the two main actors is not fleshed out in any manner other than what serves to set up necessary plot points. There are no truly tender moments or romantic montages to sit through, but the dialogue between Alex and Nick is shallow and uninteresting. There is also a lot of dancing.
Carrying an R rating, "Flashdance" straddles the line of maintaining a family friendly environment and bringing out the naughtier side of Alex. She smokes a cigarette and she drops the f-bomb. Yet almost everything else she does is cute and kid-friendly, including much of her dancing. By not selling out entirely and becoming a PG or PG-13 rated picture, "Flashdance" has an odd sense of turmoil in its desired tone. Does it want to be a film that strives to entertain adults or does it want to be a dance movie that excites teenage girls? The picture definitely speaks to female viewers, but watching "Flashdance" shows the identity crisis suffered by the film´s production. The team of Simpson and Bruckheimer would become a powerhouse after this film and director Adrian Lyne has done well with "Fatal Attraction" and other films, but "Flashdance" is a movie that struggles to find itself and decide on what kind of movie it wants to be. It is caught somewhere in the middle of being a movie for adults and being a movie for teenagers. Watching the film feels like reading somebody´s diary that has had the naughty pages ripped out.
I can´t say that I enjoyed the film. I found the plot uninteresting and silly. With no consistent tone or direction for the film, "Flashdance" felt like a convoluted series of music videos. It lacked any dramatic moments and presented characters that were far too forgettable. Had it not been for the above average soundtrack that accompanied the production and the dance sequences that have been borrowed and parodied countless times over the years, "Flashdance" would too be forgettable. However, we all remember seeing Alex sitting in a chair and being drenched with water. We all remember seeing her sweat profusely in an incredibly energetic dance to the song "Maniac" and the iconic final sequence to Irene Cara´s "Flashdance… What A Feeling." As I said before, this is a movie about dancing and it is remembered for its dancing. I didn´t enjoy the film, but vividly remember the numerous songs and dances contained in this film. I can understand why many women love the movie and realize why the film was as successful as it was. For me, the film lacked conviction, direction and any true entertainment value.
Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is an eighteen year old girl who works as a welder for a Pittsburgh steel company. That is only her day job. At night, she is a dancer for a nightclub that features costume dressed dancers and stylized dancing that competes with local topless joints. Being a Pennsylvania boy, I am overly curious how an eighteen year old girl would secure a job as a welder in Pittsburgh and how a club of fully clothed exotic dancers would succeed. There is far too much skilled labor in Pittsburgh and not enough job positions to fill the labor base for a girl fresh out of high school to become a skilled welder, as depicted in this film. Pittsburgh is about as blue collar a town as you will find. They drink Iron City beer (or the dreadful Iron City Light), bleed black and yellow and don´t get riled up over fancy dancing when there are strip clubs just down the street. I´ve spent enough time in the city and its suburbs to know how the city operates and while these themes may be remotely possibly elsewhere, it just doesn´t happen in the Burgh.
Rant aside, Alex spends her days welding and her nights dancing. Her real dream is to become a dancer and to gain entrance to the prestigious Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. The problem is Alex has no dancing background beyond her exotic dancing and has either taught herself her moves or learned from a retired ballet dancer, Hanna (Lilia Skala). When Alex shows up at PCoDR, she looks at the application and instantly realizes she doesn´t have any of the background they are looking for and she gives up on her pursuit of her dream. Any remaining enthusiasm to landing the position are further dashed when her best friend Jeanie (Sunny Johnson) fails miserably and fails twice during an ice skating competition and Alex sees the potential parallels. Alex also witnessed Jeanie´s boyfriend and the cook for the club she dances at get heckled at his attempts of being a comedian for the club. Soon, Alex looses the ambition and feels that her continued existence will continue as a welder and exotic dancer.
Her fortunes begin to change when she reluctantly accepts a date with the steel company´s boss, Nick (Michael Nouri). Nick drives a Porsche and is successful. She doesn´t want a relationship with her boss, but eventually gives in and begins a whirlwind romance. The relationship is hot and cold, as Alex sees Nick with his ex-wife and throws a brick through a window of his expensive house. After an explanation, she forgives him and their love affair gets back on track. Nick sees the talent in Alex and her dancing and when she finally submits her application to the PCoDR, Nick calls a few friends and arranges for Alex to get a tryout. She discovers this and is greatly angered. Nick is dumped and Alex states that she will not attend the arranged tryout. She wanted to do everything on her own and although she knows show probably would not have gotten the tryout without a little help, she is unphased in her reaction. When Alex sees her friend Jeanie dancing topless at a competing club, she gives Jeanie a speech about dreams and decides to attend the rehearsal and set the stage for the film´s most memorable dance sequence.
"Flashdance" is a film that I certainly do not fit within its target demographics. It is a film about dancing, relationships and not giving up on one´s dreams. Mostly, it is about the dancing. Being a Joe Eszterhas story, there is the expected topless nudity and sexual thematics. They ultimately work against the film, but are attempts at roping in some males as an audience. The hour and a half spent watching this film is a voyeuristic look at a short period in the life of the main character. You watch her suffer through a romance that perplexes, yet rewards her. You watch her dance and yearn to make her dancing the center focus of her life. You watch her sit around her apartment with her pet pit bull. The relationship between the two main actors is not fleshed out in any manner other than what serves to set up necessary plot points. There are no truly tender moments or romantic montages to sit through, but the dialogue between Alex and Nick is shallow and uninteresting. There is also a lot of dancing.
Carrying an R rating, "Flashdance" straddles the line of maintaining a family friendly environment and bringing out the naughtier side of Alex. She smokes a cigarette and she drops the f-bomb. Yet almost everything else she does is cute and kid-friendly, including much of her dancing. By not selling out entirely and becoming a PG or PG-13 rated picture, "Flashdance" has an odd sense of turmoil in its desired tone. Does it want to be a film that strives to entertain adults or does it want to be a dance movie that excites teenage girls? The picture definitely speaks to female viewers, but watching "Flashdance" shows the identity crisis suffered by the film´s production. The team of Simpson and Bruckheimer would become a powerhouse after this film and director Adrian Lyne has done well with "Fatal Attraction" and other films, but "Flashdance" is a movie that struggles to find itself and decide on what kind of movie it wants to be. It is caught somewhere in the middle of being a movie for adults and being a movie for teenagers. Watching the film feels like reading somebody´s diary that has had the naughty pages ripped out.
I can´t say that I enjoyed the film. I found the plot uninteresting and silly. With no consistent tone or direction for the film, "Flashdance" felt like a convoluted series of music videos. It lacked any dramatic moments and presented characters that were far too forgettable. Had it not been for the above average soundtrack that accompanied the production and the dance sequences that have been borrowed and parodied countless times over the years, "Flashdance" would too be forgettable. However, we all remember seeing Alex sitting in a chair and being drenched with water. We all remember seeing her sweat profusely in an incredibly energetic dance to the song "Maniac" and the iconic final sequence to Irene Cara´s "Flashdance… What A Feeling." As I said before, this is a movie about dancing and it is remembered for its dancing. I didn´t enjoy the film, but vividly remember the numerous songs and dances contained in this film. I can understand why many women love the movie and realize why the film was as successful as it was. For me, the film lacked conviction, direction and any true entertainment value.
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