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Flashdance (1983)

tomatometer

29

Average Rating: 4.7/10
Reviews Counted: 35
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 25

No consensus yet.

20

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

audience

63

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 76,620

My Rating

Movie Info

Jennifer Beals stars as Alex Owens, a Pittsburgh steel-mill welder by day, and bar dancer by night. Harboring dreams of a career in ballet, she is given financial support in this endeavor by her boss Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) and moral support by demanding but big-hearted instructor Hanna Long (Lilia Skala). The film's signature scene is, of course, Alex's water-drenched dance audition, largely performed in long shot by her dance double Marine Jahan. Essentially an old-fashioned backstage

R, 1 hr. 36 min.

Drama, Romance

Joe Eszterhas

Oct 8, 2002

Paramount Home Video

Cast

All Critics (35) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (25) | DVD (19)

Virtually plotless, exceedingly thin on characterization and sociologically laughable, pic at least lives up to its title by offering an anthology of extraordinarily flashy dance numbers.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Jennifer Beals shouldn't feel bad. She is a natural talent, she is fresh and engaging here, and only needs to find an agent with a natural talent for turning down scripts.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The story doesn't help Miss Beals either, because she's at her least convincing when having to register any emotion other than rapture.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Silly but energetic.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Cinderella tale with sex, Spandex, and '80s pop.

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Crudely-made in just about every possible way, Flashdance has only nostalgia going for it.

August 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | Comment
Antagony & Ecstasy

a beautiful piece of retro culture

March 5, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment
7M Pictures

As far as date movies go, this is effective enough, especially the scene where Beals demonstrates how to change her top without taking off her sweater.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Nothing but glossy fluff.

May 23, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

There's something real in here, and it could have made it to the screen, but the people involved were too shortsighted to see it through.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Bullz-Eye.com | Comment
Bullz-Eye.com

A simplistic fairy tale, directed by Lyne in a trashy, superficially glitzy style, with pretense to realism in its on-location shooting and a woman who works as a welder, and the kind of postmodernism that's mostly evident in the heroine's name, Alex.

September 27, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

"what a feeling" indeed.

June 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

Depressing to think that this was a huge hit on the back of the Irene Cara hit single, since there's absolutely nothing to it.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Step-setter of its time.

October 30, 2004 Comment

An utterly preposterous piece of Reagan-era bootstrapping propaganda.

September 4, 2004 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Flashdance

Another classic 80's movie! A must see!

June 23, 2011
murphmann93
Bethany Murphy

Super Reviewer

Maybe I just hate dance movies, but I found this movie really boring, and the end especially disappointing. People who like dance movies may like it, but if you're only watching it for the romance, it's not that great.

September 6, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

    1. Alex Owens: I told you, I don't think it's a good idea to go out with the boss.
    – Submitted by Alyssa B (3 months ago)

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