George Michael - Father Figure (1988)
**1/2
It's a gay '80s ballad that's been Muzaked to death in the almost two decades since its release, but I'll go to bat for "Father Figure." George Michael could write good music, sing good music and produce good music. Most of the time, he was in so-bubblegum-ya-wanna-smack-him mode, but occasionally he'd send a catchy but undeniably adult ballad to the top of the charts. This is a prime example.
Granted, the video can be a little tough to swallow (pun sort of intended). You've got to view its meandering film noirish take on High Fashion Meets The Gritty City as heavy-handed kitsch, but the director - whoever he is - sneaks in a lot of solid shots that still hold up. You could yank a hundred or more still frames from "Father Figure" and use them in a coffee table book today.
George is a rough, jean-jacketed cabbie with exactly four days of stubble on his face. Not three, not five. He's a stalker of supermodels with a photographic wall of fame on his wall directly above the bed's headboard. And he picks up a fare that changes his world - she's a model, yes, and she does her little turn on the catwalk. On the catwalk. Yeah, on the catwalk. She shakes her little tush on the catwalk.
She also, in certain shots, has some hard, hard lines on her face. Kinda looks like a dude with a lot of makeup on. But she's all woman, we find out in the scene in George's bedroom where the model is backed to the wall in her lingerie, enjoying a vicious makeout session with cabbie G.M. They spend the night together, she gets distressed the next morning and can't pose right for the photographer. Who grabs his forehead with both hands in universal mime for Very Displeased.
Hang in there until the bitter end and you'll hear my favorite George Michael ad-lib of all time: "I'll be your daddy, OHHH!!" It's a classic.
It's a gay '80s ballad that's been Muzaked to death in the almost two decades since its release, but I'll go to bat for "Father Figure." George Michael could write good music, sing good music and produce good music. Most of the time, he was in so-bubblegum-ya-wanna-smack-him mode, but occasionally he'd send a catchy but undeniably adult ballad to the top of the charts. This is a prime example.
Granted, the video can be a little tough to swallow (pun sort of intended). You've got to view its meandering film noirish take on High Fashion Meets The Gritty City as heavy-handed kitsch, but the director - whoever he is - sneaks in a lot of solid shots that still hold up. You could yank a hundred or more still frames from "Father Figure" and use them in a coffee table book today.
George is a rough, jean-jacketed cabbie with exactly four days of stubble on his face. Not three, not five. He's a stalker of supermodels with a photographic wall of fame on his wall directly above the bed's headboard. And he picks up a fare that changes his world - she's a model, yes, and she does her little turn on the catwalk. On the catwalk. Yeah, on the catwalk. She shakes her little tush on the catwalk.
She also, in certain shots, has some hard, hard lines on her face. Kinda looks like a dude with a lot of makeup on. But she's all woman, we find out in the scene in George's bedroom where the model is backed to the wall in her lingerie, enjoying a vicious makeout session with cabbie G.M. They spend the night together, she gets distressed the next morning and can't pose right for the photographer. Who grabs his forehead with both hands in universal mime for Very Displeased.
Hang in there until the bitter end and you'll hear my favorite George Michael ad-lib of all time: "I'll be your daddy, OHHH!!" It's a classic.
posted by daytime at 12:17 AM
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