Can't Stop the Music

There is no doubt this film is a joy to watch. The reasons for this may vary from viewer to viewer, but chief among them for me is the sheer, exuberant awfulness of it. How could you not enjoy seeing Bruce Jenner metamorphose from button-down business type to overage crop-topped de-facto podium dancer? And him apparently unaware of how odd he looks in it? Any film that has a gravel-voiced Tammy Grimes poncing around in outfits rejected by Phyllis Diller as being too much can't be all bad. Among so many highlights - the 'I Love You To Death' sequence, where David Hodo understandably runs away from a bevy of carnivorous performance artists in red satin pillowcases (which raises the point: how come no-one on-screen mentions the word 'gay' when everything everyone does all the time in this film screams the word? Take for instance the walrus-moustached Village Person who, white-knuckled before the Big Show whimpers 'Leathermen don't get nervous', eliciting the catty aside from passing Construction Worker 'Oh yes they do'). Steve Guttenberg recovered from this false start to make the seminal Police Academy saga, and the Village People did what they do best for a few more years. A smash hit in Australia (and, I think, Iceland), this overlooked film deserves a reappraisal.

This movie is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is awful in every sense.

Bad writing, acting, and man, you wanna talk about god awful editing! But when I first saw it on late night TV I could not believe my eyes. Its so bad its good. The whole thing is so happy, so carefree, and so 70's. Even though Steve Guttenberg's character tries to say the Village People are "THE sound of 80's". Yeah, right. This is pure 70's. Back before all the nonsense we have to deal with these days with drugs and sex. The 70's and this movie were all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. And watch at the beginning in the record store scene where all the customers are standing in line to buy Electric Light Orchestra's disco classic album "Discovery". Long live the Village People!

I urge everyone to buy a bottle of booze and see this movie immediately.

If only for the Construction Worker's song "I love you to death" in which girls ride atop giant pistons and sprinkle glitter all over his jeans. Or maybe the Leatherman's rousing version of "Danny Boy" atop a table in a Board Room. Or, maybe the gigantic musical busby berkley dance numbers with added "onion skin" rainbow graphics of naked men jumping into swimming pools. Or, maybe the worlds most bizarre milk commercial starring the Village People singing about how a milkshake goes with your sandwich too.

Be warned though, the songs are kind of decent. Maybe even better than decent. And theres a great performance by the otherwise mediocre Ritchie Family. Seriously, i love this movie. Everyone i have shown it to has remembered it, and maybe hates me for it. But its definitely an original.

This movie is amazing!! Rarely in the history of mankind have we seen a movie so incredibly awful that it becomes a "must-see film". And, interestingly enough, this film is one of four from 1979-1980 that I have reviewed that all fall into this same category. To what do we owe this honor? Well, 1979-1980, for those of you who are blessed to be too young to remember it, was time of the last gasp of disco AND the short-lived roller-disco craze. And, all four horrible movies I strongly recommend are so bad, so stupid, so over-the-top bad that they are truly must-see films for bad movie fans. So here is my list of the unholy 4--XANADU, ROLLER BOOGIE, THE APPLE and CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC. All four are chock full of disco as well as crappy dialog and minimal production values. My vote for most awful of these is the sci-fi, disco, religious epic THE APPLE, but any of the four is strongly recommended for a good laugh!

Now, for the specifics on CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC--which, when you watch it you may want to re-name "CAN'T STOP THE RETCHING". Back in 1980, the least well-kept secret in America was the fact that the Village People were gay. Believe it or not, many Americans who loved their music lived in complete denial that these were six gay men from Greenwich Village. Well, all doubt and ambiguity is erased in this film! While a few times in the movie, the ultra-horny character, Lulu, makes very clumsy passes at these guys, the long, over-the-top and strongly homo-erotic music videos within the movie make it obvious these men were quite gay--and this is especially true of their rendition of YMCA--which looks sort of like a gay version of Heaven. In fact, the campiness of the movie is sort of like a combination of Liberace with gay disco--with the most flamboyant and silly sets and costumes you'll see outside of a gay pride march. BUT, despite the singing being so incredibly overdone and campy, it actually works in some cases as you'll probably find yourself tapping your feet and getting into the songs--or at least some of them. They are BAD, yes, but still kinda fun at the same time. The final song, CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC, initially is very catchy as well, but goes on and on and on and on until you are nearly ready to go berserk!

So, if the music is strange but not THAT bad, why did I give the movie a 2? Well, that's because when they are not singing, the members of The Village People have very little to say and absolutely no charisma because they are not actors. So, they fill in this gap by having real actors(?) do almost all the dialog. And, for the most part, they assembled the absolute worst actors Hollywood had to offer!! So, the main problem with the movie rests not on the Village People but on everything else about the movie!! To help illustrate HOW bad the acting is, one of the big "stars" for the movie is a very young and obnoxious Steve Guttenburg! He is assisted by the pleasantly built but incredibly bland Valerie Perrine and the ultra-wooden Bruce Jenner!!! This movie, in fact, single-handedly ruined Jenner's bid to become a serious actor, as he had all the personality and chemistry of Mr. Potatohead.

Now, so far this movie offers us one music video after another (many with very gay visuals that will make a few uncomfortable but most just laugh), horrible acting and dialog, a dopey story and wretched direction by Nancy Walker (yes, the Bounty commercial woman). And, when you put them all together you have a movie that is even worse than a sum of all its parts--so bad, that you'll most likely laugh yourself silly and have great time making fun of the ineptness of the film. Call some friends and make this the party film you all won't soon forget!

Sorry but l think this is a great movie, why do people have to have a film that has a deep story line, this is just a great musical, with great numbers, big sets, and it`s fun fun fun..all the way...

see it with no pre-conceived ideas, and just enjoy it....