Jennifer Beals kicks up her heals high, or as high as possible, in this slice of life from 1980s Manhattan, and the blue collar dreamers, incl., comfortable construction workers (Beal) who struggle to make in on Broadway.She jumps into the sack on the first (Or second, I don't remember) date, with her Boss, who is about 14 years older than she. Sexy scene. I am assuming she was playing an 18 year old character (she looks about 16) because she works on a construction site.Making great money, in a "non traditional job" (expression then for women working in a profession dominated by men), will not satisfy her soul! Her boss/lover/svengali has connections. Will he use them to help her? See the movie.And enjoy esp. the performances of Ron Karabatsos, a Union City Policeman, turned actor, here as a Club owner; and Phil Bruns, of the old Jackie Gleason Show (American Scene Magazine) and too many movies and sitcoms, to list here. Note a short cameo by Anne Meara, wife of Seinfeld actor, Jerry Stiller.THis movie made we wanna break out my VHS tapes of MTV!

I'll admit right now that "Flashdance" was probably doomed when I saw Jerry Bruckheimer's and Joe Eszterhas' names in the opening credits. But to be fair, the movie's got their fingerprints all over it. Jennifer Beals has the same irrational rage that Elizabeth Berkley had in "Showgirls". and it's a tired blue-collar-underdog-fulfilling-her-dreams story, shot like a music video. Not to mention the high-powered pop soundtrack. Peel away that packaging, and there's not a lot there.And oddly enough, there's also not much of a payoff after she nails the audition. It just sorta happens. 5/10

Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) is a Pittsburgh steel welder by day and exotic dancer by night at Mawby's Bar. She dreams to be a ballet dancer but is too intimidated to apply. Her boss Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) falls for her. Her friend short order cook Richie (Kyle T. Heffner) wants to be a comic. Jeanie Szabo (Sunny Johnson) wants to be a competitive ice skater. Alex is hounded by Johnny C. (Lee Ving) to strip naked for his club. Jeanie fails as a skater. After Richie goes off to LA, he returns to find Jeanie going out and stripping for Johnny. She finds that Nick helped her get an audition. Her mentor Hanna Long (Lilia Skala) dies. All of it pushes her to go for her dreams.Lobster has never been sexier. Cynthia Rhodes does a crazy dance and so does Beals' body double. They are all iconic dance scenes. There are some great 80s music. The movie screams 80s cheese but it's even better than that. There are some great scenes. Jeanie's progression is heart breaking. The older dancer (I believe it's Belinda Bauer) does a great speech about dreams fading away. This is not just good 80s cheese. It also has heart.

An 18-year-old female daytime welder and evening stripper (more like cheeseball interpretive dancer) waffles about auditioning for a dance school while idling with her various co-workers.Some of the dancing is good, but most of it is more mechanical than artistic and almost seems to ignore the accompanying music. The camera-work is surprisingly professional though. The editing in this movie is incredibly clunky, jumpy (unintentionally visible and not supportive of telling the story), and the editor keeps repeating the same shots far too close together and too often to be for the purpose of either building momentum or getting a point across. Rather than being a stylistic choice, this seems to be an example of clumsy editing - rookie film student stuff. I lost interest at the 18-minute mark when the writers decided to extend the plot merely by postponing the inciting action of the last act (applying to the school) due to nerves. But I kept watching anyway, so here's the rest: The majority of the film consists of an insipid attempt at a romance story between the protagonist and her wealthy boss. The protagonist is wholly un-compelling. The side characters (an ice skater/stripper and a cook/racist comedian) are uninteresting, mildly offensive, and a general waste of time. The love interest is just a bit creepy, and not just because he's waay too old for her.Recommended for people intent on watching all 80s dance movies, no matter how poorly made they are.Content notes: Lots of filthy cussing and some racist language, some partial nudity, soily perverts acting pervy, one brief fight scene.