Thank God It's Friday

THANK GOD IT'S Friday needs to be reissued in Dolby digital and promoted like the GREASE 20th anniversary was in 1998. TGIF is a very funny film with an very recognizable cast - Jeff Goldblum even still looks the same! Does he have a painting in a cupboard getting old instead? Debra Winger, (the late great) Paul Jabara and Donna Summer and all those brown clothes and hideous cars! It was released with 4 track magnetic sound in 1978 and became quite a hit with all us flared up dance pants disco moviegoers. It is not Paul Jabara's only film appearance, he turns up in drag in DAY OF THE LOCUST the dark and scary look at 30s Hollywood. There is a place for this film in 2005 and I hope Columbia see the value. They also have a lot of other great music/concert films of the 70s that deserve another cinema reissue because of the sensational music content: WATTSTAX, FILLMORE and maybe the Fox doco CONCERT AT BIG SUR. If THE LAST WALTZ and GREASE can get out again to new audiences, so deserves TGIF and those others mentioned above. It is a very entertaining musical for lots more reasons than in 1978. The world of 1978 is almost enough alone.

This is an easy movie to laugh at. It is very into it's time and it's music, fashion, the whole nine yards. This movie came out in 1978 when disco was at it's most popular. DJs who a few years later would get on the "Disco Sucks" bandwagon were still wearing their polyester suits and wearing gold chains, playing the soundtrack of "Saturday Night Fever" over and over again. It's easy to forget how big disco was and how serious it was for a brief span of time. This movie attempts to portray in a humourous way, a night at a very "cool" disco, presided over by a very "cool" owner and DJ, who played " cool" music all night long. It shows how a night at the disco affects several different kinds of people, from a couple whose marriage is on the skids to two underage girls trying to sneak in to enter a dance contest. The music is pounding, the drug use blatant, the clothes were wild, yes this was 1978. This was all a clever package, of course, to market the movie's fantastic soundtrack. Like the SNF soundtrack, this movie sold their double LP soundtrack like hotcakes. Live performances by Donna Summer and The Commodores add to this movies appeal. Recommended as a double feature with "Detroit Rock City" to show that there was two very divergent musical tastes amoung white kids in 1978.

Every late 70's disco stereotype is well represented, including a brief shot of a working 8-Track tape player. Want a funny flashback? Grab this one. (Want an Oscar-caliber movie? Get something else.) But then, where else can you get Donna Summer, The Commodores AND Jeff Goldblum all in the same film?

If you like multi character movies, this will not disapoint. The mainly unknown cast are all rather likeable folks. and Paul Jabara is very good in his only screen role. YOu will be touched by the scene of him and a lovley young girl who are locked in a stairway but end up boogooing anyway. I especially love the plot about the fat guy and the tall thin schoolteacher who are mismatched by a dating service. Except for a few drug scenes, this is a terrific family picture, too. And the best you will ever see Debra Winger on screen. She looks soft and pretty. The music is very good, strong voices and tunes, much better than the dance music of the last 20 years. Check out this movie for some good light entertainment.

This is about the only "disco" movie that I have ever liked. To me, it really captures the time & spirit of the late '70s disco craze. Everyone from Debra Winger and her co-worker looking for guys that don't wear polyester, to the great music of the Commodores and Donna Summer make this a nice slice of '70s nostalgia. Everything '70s is represented in this movie: 8-tracks, platform shoes, bell-bottom pants, leisure suits, I think there is even a Ford Pinto in the parking lot of the disco. I feel that this movie never got the recognition that it deserved. It seemed to be drowned out by "Saturday Night Fever" and "Can't Stop The Music". If you are looking for a movie that will bring back the feeling of the '70s, this one is a great choice.