Saturday Night Fever (1977)

A 19 year old kid (John Travolta) lives with his parents and is stuck in a dead end job. His only release is the weekend evenings at a disco where he is the King of the dance floor. When a meets a rather snooty young woman (Karen Lynn Gorney) with aspirations for better things, his interest goes beyond just being her dance partner. It seems each decade has a film that captures the pulse of its young generation and becomes a cinematic time capsule. In the 1950s, it was REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, in the 1960s EASY RIDER, in the 1980s THE BREAKFAST CLUB. In the 1970s, it's SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Based on a magazine article published in New York magazine titled "Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night", John Badham's film catches the feverish and heady spell of the disco scene, where it didn't matter who you were or what your economic status was, the anonymity of the dance floor made you part of the "tribe". Travolta's magnetism was never more apparent, he's never been as seductive a screen presence since. But it's not just the magnetism, he inhabits the frustrations of someone smarter than he's allowed to be and surrounded by friends and family who pull him down. You can see why a girl, however pretentious, like Gorney would attract him. His performance was the only Oscar nomination the film received. The dance sequences are terrific, a highlight being the hypnotic Night Fever number. One of the seminal movies of the 70s. With Barry Miller, Donna Pescow, Joseph Cali, Julie Bovasso and an unrecognizable Fran Drescher as one of Travolta's dance partners.