A West Side Story knockoff that tries to look like Quadrophenia, and serves mainly and probably solely as a publicity platform for Bowie and Sade. Listless choreography and dull songs, even from the star man himself, do not set this up as any kind of cultural wunderkind. Absolute Beginners is closer in spirit to Bye Bye, Birdie than to any kind of anthem to social rebellion in a historical locale. Then it kind of oozes into Lord Love A Duck territory where psychopathy is a replacement for sincerity. Do real people actually act this way? Or did they, back then? Does singing and dancing make history more valid? Can a full length feature film mimic the then newly sprung MTV and get away with it? That the song is considered one of Bowie's meh contributions, and the film is mainly forgotten, is the answer.
Review of Absolute Beginners
