ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

paul2001sw-1 For a hit movie, 'Saturday Night Fever' is a surprisingly bleak and serious film; but not quite as dark as 'Tony Manero', a Chilean movie about a criminal whose life dream is to emulate the character played by John Travolta in the earlier film. Both the anti-hero, and the society he lives in (it's the Chile of Augusto Pinochet) are pretty rotten, and the film cuts neither any slack. Indeed, behind the black comedy, this is a portrait of a civilisation on the brink of collapse through a loss of respect for basic human dignity: the fake Manero desperately seeks dignity for himself in his act, but shows no respect for anyone else's. It's compelling, convincing, and yet, as a story, ever so slightly pointless: 'Satruday Night Fever' had its own redemption narrative, and while one can mock this as Hollywood softening, without any such story a film can seem slightly devoid of direction: it's hard to even imagine what a happy ending would have been for 'Tony Manero', so hopeless is the initial premise. It's still a good film; and fundamentally a political one, even though the politics is all implicit.

michaelnorman777 This film is very good in my opinion.I like odd, daring, crazy movies like this sometimes - not just the big famous titles.The film kind of sneaks up on you though as to just how dark and sad it is - so do be warned if you are easily shocked.The film is set during Pinochet's rule in Chile and the main character Raul is a dark, brooding, pitiless, frustrated guy who is obsessed with Sat Night Fever. He is around 50 but acts younger.He sees himself as Tony Manero - (John Travolta) and watches the movie often.I think the obsession is due not only to the fact that the guy has a screw loose but that he is dreaming of and projecting a better life than the reality of life under a curfew style oppressive regime in Chile.The cool thing to me is that Raul looks like Al Pacino not Travolta and the character has more in common with Tony Montana (Scarface) as you will see when you watch.Along with some other younger characters Raul has formed a dance act at a local bar/ cafe who are rehearsing to do some musical numbers from the film SNF.We quickly see that the lead actor Raul is not just a petty thief but actually a serial killer who will do anything to get by.There are constant appearances and references to Pinochet's agents and some of Raul's circle are involved in protesting and printing of leaflets so are often surveilled.There is some strong sexual content in this but Raul seems a bit impotent and kinda only really gets off on the movie Sat Night Fever.He seems to be idolised though by all the woman around him regardless of the fact that he cannot meets their needs.There is one awful scene where Raul uses the white suit of another person as a toilet - to prevent him being a rival in the Tony Manero look alike competition - so just be warned it is hard to stomach at times and not for the faint hearted.There are some bits I found funny too its not all dark but overall its just odd surreal and slightly unnerving throughout perhaps how life was in Chile during that regime.Its like you are sucked into the dream/nightmare or quest of this person and you want it to end but also want to see more.I think one reviewer said the ending was not good - I thought it was cool and it seems obvious what will happen next to me.Personally I love films like this as I stated but don't think it will appeal to everybody.

Erik Archer I'm looking at these IMDb reviews of Tony Manero,they're all missing the same thing, which tells you the caliber of lameness going on around here. There is an absurd, sick, humor to this movie. This is the Disco version of Man Bites Dog. If you haven't seen Man Bites Dog, then it's time to see Man Bites Dog. Then, maybe a week later, when the cinematic pallet is cleansed, watch Tony Manero. The cinematography is on the money. I can recommend taking a look at director Pablo Larrain's other work, pretty hip stuff. He kind of reminds me a little of Hal Hartley. This film should go down as an indie classic and be played frequently on IFC.

markgordonpalmer TONY MANERO (2008/ Chile - directed by Pablo Larrain) *SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW* Raul is a man just beyond middle-aged; a little bit past his prime. Not very good at anything. Except maybe dancing. Trouble is, Raul's knees aren't too happy these days about the kind of disco dance moves they are forced to take the strain of. But that's not going to stop Raul from doing what he now knows he was born to do - dance the disco! Meet Raul Peralta - a man looking for a way to escape from a life where all he has to rely on is mimicking the John Travolta role of iconic dancing king Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. For a living. Or for a chance of a living. It's a shot at stardom, doomed to fail, but what else is there to rely on? The dark days of the Pinochet dictatorship hang heavy in daily life all around him; his heart is blackened, and the soot falls heavy on the white suit he wears to the dance class. But the dancefloor holds more hope than any of the the streets this man walks down, any of the bedrooms he finds himself stumbling into.Raul spends all he can on cheap and chipped glass tiles to make a pathetic little disco dancefloor to impress his fellow dancers with; a group of wide-eyed and hope-drained followers who see the white suit Raul wears as evidence of freedom; of a better life. Raul's love life is equally bleak; though he does at least have one, and seeks occasional company in the arms of his dull-eyed but willing girlfriend and later in the arms and untidy bed of his girlfriend's daughter, a girl conspiring against the Pinochet regime but ultimately doomed to lose everything in every way possible. Raul is seen walking the perma-strutting daughter through the living room to the bedroom after a few too many drinks; right past her watching friends and right in front of his so sad-eyed but strangely passive girlfriend, in a quite unsettling and shocking scene.Raul's obsession with the film Saturday Night Fever, playing daily at the local picturehouse, is absolute. It's freedom and escape. But in the end; it's a curse and a slippery slope into total immorality. In real life, in Raul's reality - old women get mugged; projectionists get beaten to a pulp when they play (horror of horrors) the film Grease, where Travolta is no longer the harder-edged Tony Manero character, but a character all bright and breezy and wearing a different outfit, with different dance moves.Raul has devoted too many days of his life to practising the Manero dance moves; to wearing the exact same outfits; into trying to win the Tony Manero of Chile competition, to stop now. Trouble is - he's not a very good Tony Manero. He's more Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon or Scarface; more Tony Montana than Manero. In the original Saturday Night Fever, a girlfriend of Travolta's character compares him to Pacino after kissing him on the dancefoor: "Ohh, I just kissed Al Pacino" she croons - a nice touch and neat link to the original movie.Raul can dance - but not that well. He slips and stumbles at key moves; his knee giving way. The lingering camera doesn't zoom in on any reaction when the inevitable, literal fall - or slip from assumed perfection, comes. Raul carries on with the dance - and the camera does too. In a way, the camera tries to hide what Raul is also hiding; as if we may not notice. But we do. This is masterly direction from Pablo Larrain. In the last reel there's a chance it may not all end in absolute failure for Raul. A decision in the final stages of the dance competition could go either way, with just two contenders up for the crown at the last dance saloon -could Raul actually win? Is he the 'new best Tony Manero impersonator' in Chile? He will either come first or second. But a runner-up is just another nobody. When asked what his profession is at the dance contest, Raul looks puzzled: "This" he replies, without seeing the irony.Raul may do something unexpected and nasty to the suit of a rival (in a scene that is really quite disgusting and puts to bed any hope that Raul isn't as depraved as he may at first appear), but it's his own white disco suit that is forever ruined; that will forever be missing the right number of buttons to make him a true Manero impersonator - a suit that is already splashed with the blood of the innocent.The performance of Alfredo Castro as Raul is heart-wrenching, absolute and intense. It's real, without the barriers of a performance to distract; he is Raul, in the same way he will never be Tony Manero.This remains a film that refutes the beauty and passion in hardship; denies its existence; embraces the blackest humour and lives the darkest of days. There's no bad boy made good moral to be found here. No pot of gold or winning ticket at the end of this rainbow; this great glass elevator is chipped and broken and going nowhere.If you thought the real Tony Manero had it bad, you ain't seen nothing yet! by ~ Mark Gordon Palmer