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Singing sensation Olivia Newton-John (Grease) headlines this surreal musical as a supernatural muse who brings a young painter (Michael Beck) and a retired musician (Gene Kelly) together so they can build an extravagant dance club called — you guessed it — Xanadu. But as she inspires the men in their endeavor, she can’t help falling in love with Beck, which upsets dear old dad Zeus, who forbids any of his daughters from living happily ever after with any mere, mortal man. Will Xanadu deliver on Beck and Kelly’s dreams? Will Beck and Newton-John end up together?
Honestly, the story is paper-thin and exceedingly secondary in Xanadu, a film intended to cash in on a fleeting roller-disco craze that swept America in the late ’70s, right before the world collectively decided disco would die a sudden, definitive (and unjust) death. Robert Greenwald’s direction is anemic, allowing song numbers to play out in long, uninspired single takes. The film was made just a few years before MTV, so you could say Xanadu was on the cutting edge, before the language of music video was fully formed and tested. The songs performed by Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra sound contemporary, but the staging is more like something out of ’50s musicals like Singin’ in the Rain. This anachronism feels justified since Beck and Kelly’s characters represent two distinct periods of music, and it’s their intention to combine the two styles at their club.
There aren’t many films I enjoy that don’t have a solid, well-told story and direction that elevates the material, but Xanadu is a rare exception. Despite being goofy and undercooked, Xanadu skates by (pun intended) with an infectious, joyful spirit that comes across in its hit soundtrack and in the performances from silky-voiced Newton-John and the legendary Kelly (who came out of retirement for his final film appearance). Highlights include an animated sequence created by Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH), as well as a striking number in which a ’40s big band performs against a modern-day rock band, and the climactic performance of the title track featuring a bevy of dancers in roller-skates. Love it or leave it, Xanadu is truly one of a kind.