i saw this film on TV, i'm sure it wasn't in the cinemas at least i didn't notice it. the start was so funny i did fall off the couch and laugh so much i got a stitch...then the film settled down so to speak.it was hilarious, couldn't tell though whether it was supposed to be serious or a "national lampoon" style take on the groups life. other films on pop groups (beatles , spice girls etc) i guess you knew where they were coming from, but this was different..steve guttenberg perhaps he just needed the money...I bought it when it came out on VHS solely due to it being so awful it was good. i have tried to lend it to people but no one of my friends are interested...if it comes out on DVD i won't get that even if it is the directors cut...unless there is some really good out-takes. whatever someone says i do recommend people to see the film, but strap yourself into your chair and let someone else keep the remote so you cannot stop the film until the end !
Can't Stop the Music
1980
Biography / Comedy / Musical
Can't Stop the Music
1980
Biography / Comedy / Musical
Plot summary
A loose biography of seminal disco hit-makers The Village People and their composer Jacques Morali.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 08, 2024 at 02:52 AM
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cant stop the music
This movie wasn't macho, man. It was just plain bad.
I really don't like this film, because it didn't do the musical group, Village People, any justice. The movie delivers an unbalance, vague resemblance pseudo-story of the Village People's formation, rather than their actual story. I can't blame them, too much on it, since the real-life band creator, Jacques Morali & lead singer, Victor Willis weren't willing to pitch in, with this film production. I don't blame them, after all, the production for this film, was full of reports of cast members getting injury, tension between actors and the director, and last, but not least, complicated film locations, due to adjacent protests by gay activists over the 1980's film Cruising. There was no way, Morali and Willis was going to do this film. So, it makes kinda sense that they had to do a lot of rewrites; but why, did they, went way overboard on the certain things. A good example is the use of nudity. This really shock me, because the movie was supposed to be rated PG. So, why is there scenes of male & female full-frontal nudity!? Who bright idea was to rate, this movie PG? I guess, they thought, the film was a cartoon, due to the over the top cartoony humor, the film has. They really went overboard with this. Honestly, what does filler scenes like an old granny mugger or a woman stuck in a phone booth, has to do with the Village People!? Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that the movie directed by Nancy Walker tries to funny, but most of the jokes really fall flat, because how stupid & childish, they were. Honestly, if their music wasn't there, this movie would be nearly unwatchable. It's their disco and dance music that make this movie, somewhat entertaining. Sadly, some of their instant classics are somewhat missing. Two of the band's three biggest hits: "In the Navy" and "Macho Man" did not appear in the film. I was really disappointed, by that. At least, the band, biggest hit, 'Y.M.C.A" was feature. Still, I could had done, without any of the other mediocre minor hits songs like 'Milkshake', 'Magic Night' and 'Can't Stop the Music'. Their song, 'Liberation" was a great tune, but really feels, out of place, without the pacing of the film. I really didn't like, the film, use of other artist songs, such as "New York - The Sound of the City" & 'Samantha" by David London. Nor did, I like that the movie is giving free-advertisement for Jacques Morali's other band, the Ritchie Family, by featuring their songs, "Sophistication" & "Give Me a Break". Surprising, for a movie that features the Village People, it doesn't show much of them at all. Instead, the movie focus more on how the group was made by a struggling composer, Jack Morrel AKA Jacques Morali (Steve Guttenberg), with his friend, former supermodel Samantha Simpson (Valerie Perrine) & her on & off, boyfriend, Ron White (Bruce Jenner). These three have more screen time, than any member of the band. I get that, the movie didn't want the Village People try to act, too much, so they wouldn't make complete fools of themselves, but gees, Valerie Perrine, Steve Guttenberg and expressively, Bruce Jenner, are not great actors. They all, pretty bad! Not only that, their characters are written, horrible. Steve Guttenberg's character comes across as a smug businessman. Valerie Perrine's character is just sex bait. Last is Olympian Gold Medalist, Bruce Jenner's character, who comes across as a minor character that shouldn't even be there. He rarely does anything, besides being the victim to a bunch of awkward slapstick gags and wince about it. 124 minutes is wasted on these characters, and by the end of the film, you still, don't know, much about the Village People, since coming in. The movie's pacing is also overwhelming. Lots of long takes, and general emptiness makes it a hard watch. Most of the musical numbers didn't look fabulous and crisp, due to the picture quality in the prints that the early 1980s had. Lots of key scenes look way too discolored & grainy. Another problem is the movie was film, without thinking of using any widescreen aspect ratio. There is a lot of bad framing, throughout the film. With a budget of around $20 million, you would think the picture quality would be, better, but half of the budget was spent on a lavish world-wide dinner parties and a Baskin Robbins promotion, during the biggest Disco backlash in history. Really bad judgment call right there. So, it was no surprised that, Can't Stop the Music, the most expensive musical at the time, bomb at the box office. It became so notorious bad that the Razzies was created, just for it, to win Worst Picture of that year. Even members of the Village People, Policeman (Ray Simpson), Construction Worker (David Hodo), Indian (Felipe Rose), Cowboy (Randy Jones), Leatherman (the late Glenn Hughes), and the soldier (Alex Briley), have stated in interviews that they dislike this movie, because, how much they were wasted. Also, the fact that the movie has them, playing heterosexuals fantasy roles, despite their influence in gay male subculture. The only true heterosexuals members, was biker, Glenn Hughes and replacement lead singer, Ray Simpson who took over for Victor Willis, as the Cop gimmick. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of gay imagery here to create a gay cult following and it did. As much, as I kinda like Disco and the Village People; Overall: I really can't defend this movie. Thank goodness, this movie musical got stopped before it made a sequel! It was just plain awful.
Who Was This Movie For?
At some point, during pre-production one must wonder who they're making their film for. Sometimes, it's simply enough to say "I'm making it for myself" and if they have the passion to back it up, it's sure to be enjoyed by many others, too. Can't Stop the Music at no point feels like a movie that someone was passionate about making. It's not a story that anyone felt needed to be told and it suffers for that.
The thin tissue of a story follows a songwriting DJ (Steve Guttenberg) who dreams of getting his songs on the airwaves. Thankfully, he has a recently retired model friend (Valerie Perrine) who finds him a bunch of singers to record a demo within the blink of an eye, they record the demo, and (surprise!) she gives it to her record producer ex. From there, there are a few fairly minor conflicts and a lot of musical numbers that do nothing to enhance the story, but at least they give us a quit respite from from inane "plot."
It's hard to tell if the actors knew they were in a turkey, because they seem to be having a great time. Even Caitlyn Jenner (back when she went by Bruce) isn't as bad as you'd think. The musical numbers are pretty well staged and the songs themselves are mostly toe tappers, but one wishes there was more of a story to support them. At a little over two hours, it's insanely long for a film with a plot barely strong enough to cover a half hour sitcom episode. If the film had been trimmed by 30 minutes, it might be even more fun.