Tony Manero (John Travolta) works in a hardware store by day, but at nights and the weekends he is a God. OK OK OK you've all seen the Airplane movie parody of the pointy fingered dancing, but this is the real thaang. Slip me some greasy skin dancy dude.

Tony is the black sheep in the American-Italian Family, but to his friends there is none cooler...

"Never have red flappy collar'ed shirts been cooler..."

"Wide collar red shirted boy!"

"Did he really wear those brown shoes with that red shirt? I do wish I'd bought shares in the company that made them then."

"I still dance like that today, and I can still clear the dance floor like Travolta too... kewl..."

"I live for 1970's night at the old peoples home!"

"The boy did good."

"Blue vested boy!"

"It is just too easy to take the p out of this movie. But in its time it was pivotal. The Bee Gees soundtrack gave a whole decade a reason to sing all high."

"Sort of like a light weight Rocky but without the Boxing."

Now, before I start, give me a mo to don my dancing clobber! Ooooooh! That's much better, thank you very much...

This movie is highly regarded today as a benchmark of 1970's street DISCO culture. The start is instantly memorable with those hairy Bee Gees high-pitching their opening number. We watch as 19 year old Tony Manero walks down the street with his freshly jiggled pot of paint (I feel sure that is the correct phraseology), attempting to pick up the ladeees but to no avail. Wait until the night, leggy bints, and he will have no trouble impressing you then!

Manero is a working class hero in the disco, but on the streets women don't want to know him. And why would they? Manero blows smoke in his female acquaintance's face in one scene, and the awkwardness of him is mesmerising - a painful remembrance of the conversations with older people you are trying to impress when you are 19 years young... wonderful acting, or is it just the hormones kicking in?

The musical numbers are superb, although this movie is not recommended for those with an aversion to red lighting. It's a tale well told of a young man whose heart is in the right place with a great talent.

"When my mother dies I'll give you the job, aaarieet?"

"I was just [f-word]en witcha"

Any pointy fingered dancing in a smoky dance floor on 1970;s night, or in the shower at home to music from any radio station with the word Gold in the title.

There is nothing cooler than dancing with such smoothness after taking such a beating... but is this realistic? Surely a few oohhs! and aahhs! when she grabs his shoulder during the dance would add a sense of realism here... That said, the on-face bandage is pure class.

NOPE. Is this really the way men used to treat women in the 1970's?

It's interesting how far we have come (or at least we would never see this sort of stuff on the big screen in a new movie today). It's a man's world in this movie, with even the high pitched songs being sung by men... (That said, do the women really have to scream like that all the time?)

Awkward teen sex and misty car windows, will get the memories flooding back. The real sex is on the dance floor though (metaphorical of course). We will let you decide what the pointy fingers means. BEHAVE!

'How deep is your love' seems to just glide into this movie at the end, stunning. 'More than a woman' is also memorable. It is difficult to imagine this movie without the Bee Gees soundtrack, or Travolta's black underpants which saved the scene with his grandmother from becoming distasteful.

Dogs love Travolta, even though human dancing looks funny to them: where is the stick or ball or choc drops...? It makes no sense to them whatsoever... expect confused sideways looks throughout.

Penguins will deftly alternate their weight from foot to foot throughout the movie, with the alternation changing much faster during the dancing numbers, with possibly a raised leg at times.

Be prepared to punish parakeets or other talking birds if they attempt to sing in a Bee Gees styling.

A flappy collared red shirt.

Yes this is f-word dancing heaven. Look out, too, for use of the c-word on the bridge... he makes the girl cry... aaahh! (if you take bad language inflation into account that bit of language was equivalent to a punch on the nose in 1970's money.)

Perhaps a little less musical than you might remember, or would expect. However, when the Bee Gees music does start up it grabs you and pulls you in, superb.

January 7, 2004