I suppose everyone of a certain age knows that scene in Flashdance. If you are of that age then you are already picturing it – Jennifer Beals on a stage in a skimpy outfit. She’s backlit so you can’t see her features but produces a lovely profile. She dances seductively as water pours down from above creating a splash dance if you will (and you probably shouldn’t).

It is an iconic moment, one that is embedded into my memory from my growing pubescent brain. Yet I’d never seen the movie until this past week. I was surprised to learn that scene comes very early in the film. There will be more dances, some of them more creative but none as sexy or iconic.

She plays Alexandra Owens a welder by day (which gives us plenty of actually very well lit scenes in which she sweats while sparks fly all around her) and a dancer by night.

She dances in a club inhabited by guys who wear trucker caps and drink Budweiser but who watch attentively as she does arthouse dances and never complain that she doesn’t bother to take her clothes off.

She likes dancing at the club but what she really wants to be is a ballet dancer. She has an elderly mentor who encourages her to apply at the prestigious dance academy but she’s intimidated by it as she’s a working class girl.

Her boss at the welding factory is twice her age and, again, her boss, takes a shine to her. At first she lets him know he’s twice her age and her boss and that’s definitely not appropriate, but naturally they wind up a thing anyway.

She’s also got a sister who is an ice skater, and a grumpy Dad. There is a lot going on in this film but none of it really adds up to anything. We never get to know any of the characters and there isn’t much in the way of development or tension or plot. Mostly it is an excuse for a lot of big dance numbers. To be fair those are quite enjoyable and they are set to some great 1980s pop music.

It was directed by Adrian Lynne who’d also direct 9 1/2 Weeks and Fatal Attraction and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (their first of many collaborations including Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, and The Rock) and that completely tracks as it has that beautiful sheen but empty center.

If you can turn off your brain and enjoy some sugary candy then this is an enjoyable distraction. But if you are looking for something more I’d look elsewhere.