Flashdance (1983)

Director: Adrian Lyne

Starring: Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Skala

A Pittsburgh woman with two jobs as a welder and an exotic dancer wants to get into ballet school.

Jennifer Beals exploded onto the movie scene with her portrayal of Alexandra Owens in ‘Flashdance’. She stars as a young girl, who is a welder by day and an exotic dancer by night. She dreams of being a ballet dancer, but doesn’t have enough confidence.

Her boss is Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri), who sees her dance one evening when he goes to the club with friends. Realizing she works for him, he approaches her at work the next day and almost immediately becomes infatuated with her. Needless to say, they start seeing each other.

‘Flashdance’ can be seen as the straight man’s aphrodisiac, with constant focus on the female anatomy. This is sexy and sensual – if you’re a heterosexual male, or a lesbian. Talk about sexual exploitation! Having said that and the female anatomy aside, ‘Flashdance’ is definitely more of a chick flick when it comes to its cheesy premise. For a classic, I found it so bo-o-o-o-ring!!

The film is driven by a stunning soundtrack, and – quite honestly – if it wasn’t for the soundtrack, the movie would have been an absolute waste of time. The music was so much better than the movie!! Well done composer Giorgio Moroder!!

At most, I enjoyed Alexandra’s determination to follow her dreams, and I thought Jennifer Beals portrayed her quite well. Her dog was also absolutely adorable!

Despite mixed reactions from critics, ‘Flashdance’ was a huge box office success, raking in nearly $93 million on a $7.5 million budget. It received 26 award nominations, winning 11 including an Oscar for Best Original Song. It also received Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

Would I watch it again? No.