Roller Boogie (1979)

****

"It's love on wheels!"

As soon as the opening credits started up I knew I was in for a treat. Not since Aerobicide (aka Killer Workout) have my shoulders and feet danced in sync with each other to such a funky-ass beat. I felt like Steve Martin's character in The Jerk, it was uncontrollable.

This little gem is about a spoilt little rich girl and her desire to have a youth. It stars Linda Blair as Terry and Jim Bray as Bobby James, the best skater in town. Bobby meets Terry while down at Venice beach and instantly falls for her, the one girl who appears uninterested in him. After stalking her at the local disco Terry decides to take dancing lessons from Bobby and the pair hit it off right away. But after the disco is threatened with closure, the pair, armed with a posse of skater friends decide to pull together in an effort to save the Roller Boogie.

It's incredibly cheesy and so poorly acted in places it's untrue, but that's exactly how I expected it to be and it did not let me down. You won't find any oscar nominated performances here, but then again who's looking? This has made me want to check out more roller skating movies like Xanadu, or even just movies with the same feel to them like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

"You're heading for the Olympics; I'm heading for broken bones."

One of the more ridiculous scenes in the film shows Bobby sitting on the window ledge of his 1st floor apartment, when a guy at a pay phone in the street shouts up at him to tell him that he has a call for him. He comes down to answer the call and soon finds out that it's Terry (I know), better still, she's only across the street roughly 15 feet away in a huge bright green car. He's standing at the pay phone looking all around as she's describing his clothes but he just can't see her. I'm shouting "She's behing you!" like in panto but he can't hear me, it was over 30 years ago! That scene had me in bits.

There is so much to like here and if you're in the mood for some harmless fun with a killer soundtrack and fun plot, then this takes some beating.