Xanadu

OK, before anyone says anything to me. I know that this movie from 1980 is not critically acclaimed and a lot of people find it really cheesy. So please if that is all you have to say than that's OK too.

This has got to be my favorite movie musical of all time. How can you not love a musical on roller skates? If you don't, you are just plumb crazy. Besides, Gene Kelley is in it so it's classy, right?

There isn't really a synopsis on the back cover of my DVD and I could go to Amazon or some such website and copy/paste a generic synopsis, but I will do my own this time.

Olivia Newton-John (love her) plays one of the mythological Muses named Kira. Her and her sisters spring to live from a painted mural and start to dance. Once the dancing is over, they zip away to destinations unknown.

Kira ends up roller skating into Sonny Malone, played by Michael Beck, who is a struggling artist. He paints giant album covers to be used as AD pieces in record stores. Now since he is a true artist, he balks at the rigidity of his job and years to break free and explore his more creative side. Kira (through magical means) keeps popping in and out of his life and he can't get her out of his head.

Long story short, sort of anyway, Sonny meets and befriends Danny McGuire, played by the wonderful Gene Kelley. Danny is a down and out former club owner and big band performer. Somehow, Kira of course, the idea of opening up a new club hatches between the two of them and Xanadu is born. This was the only odd point in the movie for me. If Sonny is an artist wouldn't his Muse inspire him to be true to the art and not become a club owner? Of course if that happened we wouldn't have had the coolest final number with costumes galore, jam skaters, and the catchiest dance tune in the history of cinema!

In the meantime Kira and Sonny fall in love, they even have an animated sequence together. They then have to convince Zeus and Hera that their love is meant to be. They end up together at the end but not in the way you would have thought, don't you love twists?

Now of course all this takes place amongst wonderful songs performed by Olivia and Electric Light Orchestra, great dance numbers, and lots and lots of roller skating. So far all of you in the mood for something over the top and cheesy as all get out, get a hold of this movie and enjoy!