Por fin ya es viernes

OK, true, it's dated, and shows its age, and this movie is far from a classic. What the hell?, see it anyway!!. This movie took place at a long gone disco in Los Angeles (Osco's), a favorite hangout of mine back when I lived in L.A. Even though the story is a bit far-fetched, its the DANCING, and MUSIC that brings this movie alive.

This is a fun movie, about a fun almost hedonistic period (remember, this was pre AIDS), when pretty much life was about just having a good time.

The one thing I remember most about the disco period is this: There seemed to be very few lines that divided, the rich, poor, black, white, latin..you name it... we all went to the same clubs, and listened to the same music. This is something you'll see represented in this movie, this cast was about a group of people that in todays society, would hardly be seen on the same street.

The group I'd recommend seeing this film now? young people around 15 to 25, maybe give them a little more focus as to why their parents are so weird!!!

After a while, you do realize that this automatic time-capsule movie doesn't have much of a story, but it does have a variety of subplots wrapped up in a trim hour and a half. Basically, "Thank God It's Friday" is a one-night-in-the-life-of-a-disco-palace type of deal, involving a smorgasbord of characters. There are two under-age girls (Valerie Landsburg and future Berlin singer Terri Nunn) itching to enter the big dance contest, a married couple (Mark Lonow and Andrea Howard) out for a night on the town (against his wishes), the womanizing club owner (Jeff Goldblum), a nice but klutzy girl (Debra Winger) looking for a nice guy, and the harried DJ (Ray Vitte) being pestered by an aspiring singer (real-life disco queen Donna Summer). And there's a concert performance by Lionel Richie and the Commodores!

Is "Thank God It's Friday" a "good" movie in any sense? Not really, but it does provide a fair amount of amusement in its very dated way. Everything about it just screams the late 1970s, from the fashions to the tunes. Its episodic nature prevents us from getting too annoyed, since there are some characters, like Dave (Lonow) and Gus (Chuck Sacci) who wear out their welcome *quickly*. The soundtrack is fun to listen to, and Donna does belt out the number "Last Dance" which actually won an Oscar for Best Song. The performances range from even-keeled (Winger is quite appealing) to unpleasantly hammy (Sacci plays such a jerk, that you can't help but cheer when he gets slugged). Chick Vennera is quite a hoot as a veteran disco dancer who swears by his leather wardrobe. And DeWayne Jessie (a.k.a. Otis Day) shows off his talents by playing a van driver who's trying to get to the nightspot in time to deliver to the Commodores their instruments.

One of the writers of "Last Dance" was actor / songwriter Paul Jabara, who plays the guy who gets stuck backstage.

You just *know* that this one is going to show you some goofy entertainment with its spin on the Columbia Pictures logo sequence.

Five out of 10.

I was born in 1979, so I really can't say I know that time well. My generation sucks when it comes to being social and music, I was curious after seeing "Saturday Night Fever". Yea, disco to some, sucks. But they close minded folks you really don't want to be around. OK, polyester was hot has hell to ware, Carter was an idiot, people waited to fuel for hours, but people still knew how to have fun when times where rough.

If you want to step into a time warp, this is it. It's a light hearted take in 1978 when disco was huge. You could be anyone, any color, any sex………anything and just be open with who you where. The music is great, it's got a great "happy" beat to it. Seeing people I have only heard of was really neat to see. Donna Summer and Paul Jaba make an appearance and Debra Winger from "Terms of Endearment" was one of the main stars looking for "Mr. Right". Also Jeff Goldblum is the greasy owner of the "Zoo" (Dose this guy ever age?). All in all it was entertaining. If your looking for something to challenge your mind or award winning, look some place else. If you want to feel better, relax a bit, this movie is for you.

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.

THANK GOD IT'S Friday was released just as the disco craze crested, when anything and everything might happen during a night on the town, when sex was casual, and drink and drugs were still regarded in a lighthearted manner, and music wailed and blared with the likes of Gloria Gaynor and K.C. & the Sunshine Band. Within a few years Disco would be publicly declared dead--but it still lives on in the recordings... and in Donna Summer's screen image of the Disco Diva, shimmering in the spotlight beneath the mirror ball with a hibiscus tucked into her hair as she belts out her megaton hit, "Last Dance."

TGIF is best regarded as a cultural artifact, an attempt to show everything that was shiny about the Disco world without any reference to its down sides of sexually transmitted diseases, next-morning-hangovers, and serious drug addictions. The story is slight: a disco is hosting a big dance contest, and every one arrives at the door with personal ambitions. There is, of course, the singer who hopes to hit it big; two underage teen girls hot to be Disco Queens; a sweet young thing who hates polyester and is looking for Mr. Right in the wrong place; and a ladykiller looking to score his next victim. The film is most memorable for the look of the disco, which is the real star of the film, and the cast, which includes several performers on their way up: Jeff Goldblum as the lady killer; Deborah Winger as the anti-polyester good girl; and of all people a very, very young Terri Nunn, who would later score big as the front singer for the band Berlin.

There are all the usual running gags, and as a whole the film is only mildly entertaining. But then Donna Summer steps into the spotlight--and for a few moments everything that was magic about Disco lives and breathes again. For what it is--an incredibly light, mindless bit of tinsel--the film is well done, but it has an extremely limited appeal for a contemporary audience. Unless you were actually part of the disco scene and want to revisit old memories, you're better off catching it on the late-late show. But my oh my... wasn't Donna Summer something special!

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer