I first watched this as a teenager and I just thought Tony was a cool guy doing cool things, Annette was a stupid piece of ass and Stephanie was classy. I realized there were subplots like Frank and Bobby C's story but most of that went over my head.
As I've been rewatching this from time to time over the decades, I now see there is a lot more there. It's actually pretty nihilistic, the family drama is reasonably intricate, as is the love story. On top of that, it's an interesting view on 1970's NYC, perhaps not in the same league as Midnight Cowboy or Taxi Driver, but nevertheless sharing an origin. At times, it's as gritty and dark as these two films.
The music is stellar and the disco scenes are iconic. Not a masterpiece as it sometimes is cringeworthy and shallow, but on the whole it's a culturally important piece of film history.
As I've been rewatching this from time to time over the decades, I now see there is a lot more there. It's actually pretty nihilistic, the family drama is reasonably intricate, as is the love story. On top of that, it's an interesting view on 1970's NYC, perhaps not in the same league as Midnight Cowboy or Taxi Driver, but nevertheless sharing an origin. At times, it's as gritty and dark as these two films.
The music is stellar and the disco scenes are iconic. Not a masterpiece as it sometimes is cringeworthy and shallow, but on the whole it's a culturally important piece of film history.