80s Throwback Trilogy: "Against All Odds," Phil Collins

I’ve decided on “Against All Odds” as the second part of our special Phil Collins throwback trifecta. Few would deny that this is a solid song.  In fact, I’d rank it up there with the finest pop breakup songs.  The video, however…

Wow.  I know it was still early on in the whole let’s-use-music-videos-to-promote-movies trend, but the tie-in with the 1984 film Against All Odds is just cringeworthy. (I’ve never seen the movie, but after rewatching this video, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to.)  Collins himself looks downright uncomfortable at times – whether it’s singing through a symbolic mask at the video’s beginning or emoting the chorus.  And if that weren’t enough, the video uses different colors to represent each character in the film, leading to the ultimate conclusion of Collins singing in the middle of a triangle that has a side lit with each color.  Such blatant symbolism and theatrics are best kept within the song – where they belong.