Tony Manero (2008)

I read about Tony Manero for the first time one or two years ago (it was on Dell on Movies, if I'm not wrong), and I found the concept very interesting. So my quest for the past years has been to find the movie and watch it.

Set in Santiago, Chile, during the dictatorship of Pinochet in 1970s, the film follows Raúl (Alfredo Castro), a 52-year-old unemployed man who is obsessed with Tony Manero, John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever, so obsessed that he watches the movie in the local movie theatre on repeat in order to memorize the dialogue and especially all of Travolta's dance moves. This guy wants to be Tony Manero so bad, he's willing to do anything to achieve his goal.

Unfortunately, as the story started to unfold, it wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. Though it takes some unexpected and sick turns, Tony Manero's story, a story of amorality and depravity, just wasn't that compelling to me and, truth to be told, it bored me to death. 

To that, add the character of Raúl, a character that is supposedly very interesting and yet failed to captivate me. He is a guy who is trying to escape from his miserable life by mimicking an iconic disco dancer, Tony Manero. The problem is that he is a disturbed and repulsive man whose obsession is so dangerous he often physically harms those around him. He has no morality, no empathy, no redeeming quality whatsoever. While the character just didn't work for me, the performance from Alfredo Castro, who looks like just Al Pacino, is pretty good. He gives such an intense performance and embodies the fearless, consciousness monster very well.

Fabula Productions

Another issue I had with Pablo Larraín's (Jackie) movie is related to the themes it addresses. On the one hand, we have Pinochet's brutal control of the country which is probably the reason Raúl became a monster --insane behaviours can only result into insanity. On the other hand, we have the influence and impact of American pop culture, in foreign countries. The problem is that I felt both were dealt with in a shallow way. If Larraín just picked one and focused on it, the result would have been much better. 

At last, there are the disturbing and shocking scenes. Some of them aren't that disturbing, only disgusting, and there's too much emphasis on sex scenes and nudity.