Movie Review: Grease

By: Lexi Jenkins, Ariana Rojak, and Danielle Shehee

April 24, 2020

The movie Grease takes place in California in the 1950s and follows a love story between leather-wearing, bad-boy greaser, Danny Zuko, and innocent, good-girl, wholesome exchange student, Sandy Olsson. The two, who come from completely different worlds, experience a summer of romance in this classic musical. 

Grease has its strengths, but it also has its weaknesses (as every good movie does). 

One of the greatest strengths was the casting of the characters.  We are pretty sure that many people can agree that nobody could have played Danny and Sandy better than John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The actor/actress duo became their characters and channeled their personalities perfectly. Stockard Channing (who starred as Betty Rizzo) played her part beautifully as well; she knew how to make the audience hate her character as well as love her, which is no easy task for an actress.

Now, let us not forget about the many amazing songs this musical features throughout the film. The catchy music keeps the audience engaged, and unlike many musicals seen today, this movie benefits from having original songs rather than repurposed pop-songs.

Another strength is how the movie flows from the ups and downs and the comparisons to real life. The movie does not solely focus on the positives in the characters’ lives; it shows the good, the bad, and the ugly, and we think this is very important to feature in a movie so as not to portray unrealistic standards in life. 

There is not much to say for weaknesses; however, one aspect that some people have said is that it is inappropriate for certain audiences as it has some strong language and inappropriate scenes. 

Some may argue that the overall message of Grease is to be the opposite of who you are and to change yourself to fit into the expectations of others.  However, the story-line is completely the opposite as the moral message of the movie was that both of the main characters changed only to find that they loved one another just the way they were.

We strongly recommend this movie! It is a beautiful and classic story. It is good if you need a laugh, want to hear some good tunes, or just want to watch a cheesy love story unfold.  Who knows, you may even get up and dance!