4

ARTS

Paae 10

Saturday, July 23, 1983

The Michigan Daily


%A ya 1 v

'Staying Alive:'
By Susan Makuch definitely possesses s much more
sophisticsted ad msture look, but un-
LRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I admit it - Isfortunately his appearance is the only
was one of those who eagerly an- thing thst has changed. Tony Manero,
ticipated John Travolta's latest screen s iyesrs later, is still the most
venture. Not only would he be starring emotionally immsture person- on the
in the sequel to the ever-popular Satur- screen.
day Night Fever but he'd also be per- Msnero hss moved to Manhattan to
forming in a film written and directed pursue his dream of becoming Tony
by a man of occasional talent, Sylvester Manero, famous dancer. He divides his
Stallone. Oh goody - my heart beat busy day into a myriad of activities - if
faster at the mere thought. But that was he's not getting an agent's door slam-
before viewing Staying Alive. med in his face, Tony either works at
Let's start at the beginning. We are teaching some very uncoordinated
all aware of the extreme difficulty in dancers some new steps, or serving
producing a sequel that maintains the drinks at the neighborhood rock club
high-caliber force of an original. But (which was surely once the local disco).
just because it's difficult doesn't mean In between these Sunday jobs he!
the challenge can't be met. Stallone did romances the cute but not-particularly-
do it, as a matter of fact, in both Rocky ambitious dancer with whom he shares
sequels. Why he fails so miserably here teaching duties. As we can see, Tony
poses an interesting question. Manero's life has barely moved forward.
The story that Stallone and since last we saw him. However, in
keeping with Stallore style, Tony's life
Staying filive takes a successful turn - into a Broad-
way chorus and the leading lady's bed.

Lingering death

be a terrific lack of energy in Staying
Alive. Things just mosey along until
Tony gets plucked from the enorus(a la
Rocky) and thrown into the leading
role. Stallone, who demonstrated a
superb raw talent for direction in
Rockies II and III, loses his grasp on
force and sincerity in Staying Alive.
There is none of the passion
for success that Rocky Balboa
possessed; sure, Manero wants fame,
but we're lost as to why. Whereas
boxing represented the pure passion in
Rocky's life, dancing doesn't seem to
do the same in Tony's existence. Dan-
cing once did that for him, but that was
six years ago in Saturday Night Fever.
Any enthusiasm and zeal that does ap-
pear from Tony can be directly credited
to Travolta's presence, not Stallone's
direction.
The biggest disappointment in
Staying Alive has to be the dance num-
bers however. What could have easily
been the only highlight of the film turns
out to be the longest yawn of the
evening. Not only was the dancing
unexciting, the choreography was
ostentatious, stilted and boring. For a
film which focuses on Broadway dan-
cing, the choreography should not be
entrusted to a man whose primary ex-
perience is mapping out Vegas dance
steps for Toni- Basil. Dennon Rawles,
the man in question, has taken on
too much responsibility in Staying
Alive. His orchestration of some very
talented dancers promises much but of-
fers little. Tony spots his leading lady
love, Laura, in a supposedly seductive
finale. From those first stiff, calculated
movements it wasn't hard to predict
what was yet to come. It's obvious that
the dancers have the talent, but they
are pushed into unnatural and awkward
steps.

I

Starring John Travolta and Cynthia
Rhodes
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Now playing at the State Street Theater
collaborator Norman Wexler worked
out for Staying Alive begins the avalan-
che of problems for this film. Our hero,
Tony Manero ages quite nicely -
nhysically - for Staving Alive. He

Despite a shoddy script, Travolta's
performance offers some intriguing
moments. The way he plays it, we
never really hate Manero for two-
timing the innocent dancer who loves
him dearly. We can easily watch as he
charms the bitchiest of stars, Laura
(played by Finola Hughes) and con-
tinually burns his girlfriend, Jackie
(Cynthia Rhodes). Will true love sur-
vive? Does Tony Manero even know
how to love? Those questions basically
go unasked in a sequel that should give
us the answers.
Not only does Stallone's script fare
poorly, so does his direction. Travolta
being the only exception, there seems to

Travolta takes a tumble in the
'Saturday Night Fever' sequel
'Staying Alive.'
The guilt also lies on Stallone's
shoulders when it comes to the dancing
failures. He overuses the slow-motion
effect and chooses too many stock shots
of leaps and jumps. Each of these loses
its effectiveness after the 17th time.
To those diehards who can't wait for
the newest Bee Gee offerings, you
really should think about waiting.
Theirs are the weakest songs in the pic-
ture, with the strongest surprisingly
being those by Frank Stallone. Yes, this
time the nepotism pays off. Sly's
brother really makes the soundtrack
worth purchasing. Maybe we should all
enjoy the music and skip the visuals.

.

A

THE
UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES CENTER
IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE
POSITION OF CHAIRPERSON OF:
MUSKET
APPLICANTS MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE IN
THEATRE PRODUCTION
AND/OR RELATED ACTIVITIES
APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE UAC OFFICES,
SECOND FLOOR OF THE UNION.
HOURS
MWF 1-4
TTH 9-12
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY WED. 27, 1983
QUALIFIED APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED FOR INTERVIEWS

- A selection of campus film highlights
Allegro Non Troppo From the man who brought you Ex-
Alro 97 calibur comes a crazy tale of life and
(Bruno Bozzetto, 1976) love in the 23rd century. Sean Connery
The flip side of Fantasia. Bozzetto's stars as a savage flown by a giant
sextet of animated-classical hits goes stone head to a Utopian island. While
beyond the superficiality of Disney's there he proceeds to bring about the
cartoon, adding to and complemen- city's salvation. It doesn't make much
more sense than that. (Wednesday,
July 27; Michigan Theatre, 7:30).

ting tae musical themes. u' n sx
pieces are intercut with scenes of
slapstick humor between the
animator and orchestra which don't
always work, but the animation more
than makes up for it. (Saturday,
July 23; Michigan Theatre, 7:35,
10:30).
Zardoz
(John Boorman, 1974)

Some Like It Hot
(Billy Wilder, 1959)
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon star in
the original men-in-drag comedy. As
the pair hide out from the mob they
join an all-girl band and proceed to
fall in love with Marilyn Monroe. A
hilarious film. (Thursday, July 28;
Auditorium A, 9:30).
Dawn of the Dead
(George Romero, 1979)
This sequel to Night of the Living
Dead is a better movie in every
respect. Our heroes hold up in a shop-
ping mall as they fend off the dead
who have come back to life. A well-
directed film with a biting commen-
tary on suburban life. Warning: This
film contains many special effects of
violent nature. (Friday, July 29; Lor-
ch Hall, 7:00, 9:30).
-Compiled by Richard Campbell

FOR MORE INFO

CALL UAC 763-1107