GREASE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Since its release in 1978, Grease has gone on to be one of the most popular and well-remembered musicals, mainly because of its catchy songs and the leading performances from both John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

It's 1958, summer is over and the hormonally-charged seniors of Rydell High are reluctantly returning to school, ready to fall back in with old friends and trade stories of the previous months' conquests. Danny Zuko (Travolta), leader of a local greaser gang called the T-Birds, brags to his crew about nights of passion spent on the beach with a mystery girl. Elsewhere, sweet Sandy Olsson (Newton-John) - the new girl in town - is taken under the wing of the no-nonsense Pink Ladies and shares fond memories of a brief romance with an unknown sweetheart. When it turns out that Danny and Sandy's mismatched tales are about each other, Sandy is humiliated and Danny has to win her back. To do so, he'll have to negotiate all of the romantic rites of passage a teenager in America's golden age could imagine: jiving school dances, awkward drive-in movies, deadly drag-races and the looming threat of graduation.

Grease is based on the 1971 stage musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. After its success in Chicago, Broadway and on the West End, it was made into a feature film seven years later. Mainly due to his performance in the 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever, Travolta was chosen for the part of Danny Zuko and he proved to be the perfect choice. Travolta captures Zuko's charm. He previously appeared as Doody in a touring production of the stage version of Grease which most likely contributed to him winning the role. He's also great during the film's musical numbers, including 'Greased Lightnin', 'Sandy', and 'You're The One That I Want'. At the time of Grease's production, Newton-John was mainly known as a singer from Australia and hadn't had much experience in terms of acting, however, she gives an impressive performance as Sandy and shares chemistry with Travolta. Her best scenes are, unsurprisingly, when she's singing. Her best song is 'Hopelessly Devoted To You', which was written and recorded after filming had wrapped. It was also nominated at the 51st Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Despite being aged 28 at the time of filming, Newton-John proved to be very convincing as a high school student, thanks to help of make-up and costume. Solid supporting roles come from Stockard Channing as the leader of the Pink Ladies, Rizzo, and Didi Conn as Frenchy, Sandy's closest friend in the Pink Ladies. The former has a memorable musical sequence when she makes fun of Sandy during the song, 'Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee'. Overall, every actor involved gives a solid performance, with Travolta and Newton-John being the stand-outs.

Like I mentioned earlier, Grease is filled with catchy, infectious and energetic songs which contributed to the film's success. Several of the songs came from the original musical, however, a few of them were written for the film, including 'Hopelessly Devoted To You', 'Sandy', and 'You're The One That I Want'. The latter is my favourite song as it occurs during Grease's finale and showcases Sandy's big transformation. After reuniting with Danny at the fair after graduating from high school, the pair sing the catchy tune as they dance their way around a Fun House. Out of all the songs on the soundtrack, it's arguably the most successful as it's one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold over 6 million copies among the United States, the United Kingdom, and France alone, with estimates of more than 15 million copies sold overall. 'You're The One That I Want' was one of the two singles John Farrar wrote specifically for Newton-John's appearance in the film that had not been in the original stage musical, the other being 'Hopelessly Devoted To You'. Ironically, the film's director, Randal Kleiser, was not fond of this song because he felt that it did not mesh well with the rest of the Warren Casey-Jim Jacobs score. Another favourite song from the film is 'Summer Nights' as it's catchy and shows Danny and Sandy talking about the night they met in the summer to their friends. It also features some impressive choreography as Danny and the T-Birds dance on the benches. It's during this song we learn how each one remembered the night differently. While Danny brags about hooking up with an attractive woman, Sandy's verse emphasizes the romance of the affair, and the truth and purity. We learn that Danny is more concerned about impressing his friends rather than revealing his true feelings to Sandy when the two unexpectedly meet again at high school. Sandy is disappointed in his actions and Danny spends the majority of the film trying to make it up to her. Danny isn't a detestable character as his actions are understandable, however, he soon learns what he did was wrong. 

Obviously, when Grease was first released in 1978, I hadn't even been born yet so I only watched it a few years ago as, growing up, I had no interest in watching it as I'd seen the stage musical at my local theatre when I was a child and didn't really understand the story as I was too young. However, when I eventually watched it, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. While Grease is rated PG, which in the UK mean it is suitable for children aged 8 years and up, there are a few sexual references and the characters do smoke and drink, however, it's only minor and all of this will go over children's head. Teenagers and older viewers will most likely enjoy Grease as they can relate to some of the characters. Because they are coming up to the end of high school, they're all dealing with what's going to happen after graduation and if they're all gonna keep in touch.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, cinemas across the UK are re-releasing Grease and, while it's available to watch on DVD and streaming sites, I think that it's worth seeing on the big screen. Overall, Grease is a pleasing, energetic musical with infectiously catchy songs and two strong leading performances from John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

7/10