wes-connors Going nowhere in her desk job, cute single mom Cynthia Dale (as Samantha "Sam" Blair) decides to open an exercise club. She rents a warehouse and calls it "Heavenly Bodies". Romance shines on Ms. Dale in the form of blond football player Richard Rebiere (as Steve). When the fitness craze blankets North America, a TV station hires Dale to host an exercise show. She edges out cute blonde Laura Henry (as Debbie Martin), who works at a rival club. It's only a local TV show, but Ms. Henry is more than miffed. She decides to shut down "Heavenly Bodies", with help from her lover Walter George Alton (as Jack Pearson). When one lover says to the other, "I heard you got shortchanged between your legs," we have a fist-fight. It all climaxes with a "workout marathon" between the two fitness clubs. The winning team gets "Heavenly Bodies". Director Lawrence Dane generously shows off many well-proportioned young women jumping around the screen, in tight work-outfits. You might get dizzy watching them.**** Heavenly Bodies (12/15/84) Lawrence Dane ~ Cynthia Dale, Richard Rebiere, Laura Henry, Walter George Alton

Scarecrow-88 Wonderfully corny Flashdance-inspired Canadian romantic exercise drama, with Cynthia Dane (of My Bloody Valentine) as an aerobics instructor and single mother who, along with her friends, struggles valiantly to open a studio called Heavenly Bodies, making it a success through talent and sheer force of will. Later landing a big part as an aerobics star on a television dance show, Dane makes a rival in Laura Henry who wanted the gig so badly she convinces a wealthy man to buy the warehouse containing the Heavenly Bodies. With the lease in jeopardy, Dane makes it her mission to see those responsible suffer. Henry is actually the ringleader behind the studio's potential demise but Dane blames her squeeze, Walter George Alton (he operates a health fitness club and is Henry's lover), also, and a challenge is issued between the two: a marathon between Heavenly Bodies and The Sporting Life (Alton's club) with the warehouse's lease up for grabs. This is so 80s as you can tell by its plot, made right in the period of the aerobics craze when the likes of Staying Alive and Perfect, as well as, the Olivia Newton John song "Let's Get Physical" and Jane Fonda's Workout were all the rage. This movie serves as a star vehicle for Dane and credit to her, the actress is plucky, spirited, and charming. The film is basically a series of aerobics dances for Dane and those behind her choreographed in synchronicity. The plot is fundamentally threadbare and derivative, using the Rocky formula regarding the little girl who rose from nothing and made something of herself through labor and sweat. The romance with the football player is emphasized; it is as cheesy as the pop soundtrack and exercise plot so popular and on the consciousness of yuppies and 80s youth of the time. The dance-off marathon, for sure, is pure corn, used to solidify Dane's lengths to see her studio flourish without the restrictions of a lease (the "injury" angle, thanks to a scuffle with Alton, is desperately contrived to produce a vulnerable Dane against a fresh Henry, but I don't think the result is in doubt). The movie's poster, showing Dane in a crouched position looking towards us, might be as derivative as its plot suggests, but I have to admit I love it. Dane, if anything, is limber and flexible.

lokar3791 I thought it was enjoyable. People are judging it a little harshly, I don't think it was meant to be Shakespeare exactly. It might have worked better as a t.v. movie, but still, I thought it was a fun little drama and got some smiles out of it. They could have used a little more variety in the soundtrack--I think we hear several repeats of about four songs--but it was capitalizing on the then-dawning workout craze, and that's what you might expect. They could have done some more character development. We should have seen some more conversations or in other ways gotten to know more about the characters. It really plays a lot like a workout tape itself, it's more about the club than the people...but it's not worse than some other movies which have gotten more praise.

Tito-8 This forgettable and VERY predictable film is adequate as a time killer, but if you want to be entertained, definitely try something else. Basically, this is a standard romance with a feel-good ending, and every second scene shows people who are exercising. Now then, it is occasionally funny, and I wouldn't exactly call this a boring film, but that is about as high as my praise can get for this movie. In other words, don't waste your time on this one.