Footloose

EVERYBODY CUT FOOTLOOSE As we all know 1984 produced a lot of great things. One of the best was "Footloose". Here's my thoughts on this timeless masterpiece which I brought on DVD this week

-Most good movies have a great opening and Footloose is no exception. A bunch of feet dancing showcasing the great footwear of the 80's to the soundtrack song "Footloose". Immediately gets you in -Kevin Bacon's character has one of the all-time great movie names: "Ren McCormack" -Funny how this is probably Kevin Bacon's greatest role, maybe only challenged by "Flatliners". It's amazing how so many actors never repeat their efforts of their first breakthrough movie (See Lou Diamond Phillips, Chris Rock and Madonna for starters) -Also starring in this movie is one of Hollywood's greatest lesser known brothers, Sean Penn's brother Christopher. He's way better than Dan Swayze or Charlie Murphy. -Kenny Loggins will go down as one of the greatest contributors to movie hit songs ever. Footloose's "Footloose" and Top Gun's "Danger Zone". -This is another one of those movies built around a town's overzealous pastor's. Reverand Shaw (John Lithgow) is even more intense than that guy in "Chocolat" -Great action scene at the start with Lori Singer car surfing (watch the slightly impossible way she gets back in the car) -Also look for the great David Hasselhoff 2 second cameo -Great scene where the Rev turns off Lor Singer's ghetto-blaster. Everyone stops talking, eating and dancing. Possibly slightly dramatic -Will (Christopher Penn) tells us several other towns have also banned dancing. How wasn't that fact used as the premise for heaps more sequels with Ren going from town to town and reviving dance? Each time he'd face a new obstacle. -Ren mentions his love for "Men at Work" and "The Police", yet he only listens in his car to bad 80's electric rock. Strange. -Weird town. Here a face off equals a tractor fight. -One of the funniest moments is when Chuck gets onto his tractor and puts "I need a hero" on on his ghetto-blaster. That would be awesome to do at a basketball game when you sub in. -Another great Dianne Weist performance. That girl can just capture the whole audience when she wants. Underrated actress. -"Moment I regret now"- Christopher Penn's dance sequence to "Let's Hear It For The Boy" (although it's a great sequence in the movie) -Kevin Bacon's speech to the council was possibly the greatest speech up until that time in cinema history. That is until Sly Stallone raised the bar with his "If I Can Change...." in Rocky 4. Which was then overtaken by Matthew McConaghuey's "Can you see her..." speech in "A Time To Kill"

"Footloose" is a fun and very lighthearted motion picture that promises a good time and delivers.

The film has a simple, if unlikely, plotline. Streetsmart but gentle teenager Ren MacCormack(Kevin Bacon) arrives from the big city with his mother in the backwater town of Bomont. Enrolling at the local high school, he is appalled to discover the town's adults have imposed a law on "public dancing" and rock music, as enforced and practiced by the local preacher(John Lithgow). Ren quickly sets about changing things, falling in love with the preacher's daughter Ariel (Lori Singer) in the process.

The story is a little unlikely yet it is perfectly suitable for the teenaged audience at which it is pitched. The script takes some time to explore its simple theme - dancing and rock music, and what they symbolise for young people. Three scenes help to lay this out. The first sees Ren dancing by himself in a barn; the town meeting where Ren presents his case to the townspeople and explains to them the meaning of the dance; and the final prom sequence in which the teens of Bomont revel in their newfound liberation.

As the leading man, Kevin Bacon carries off his role very well. Ren isn't really a macho hero revelling in coolness, he's a down-to-earth young man trying to the right thing by his peers. His romance with Lori Singer's character Ariel is formulaic but perfectly inoffensive.

The film could have perhaps done with a little more nastiness to fully contrast against Ren's earnest intentions. Even Ariel's brutish boyfriend(Jim Young) fails to inject much tension in this respect and the final fistfight between him and Ren comes across as being a bit lame.

John Lithgow's characterisation is very good but it is a little too subtle. As the town Reverend and preacher of all things pure and holy, his extreme views come across not so much as puritanical, just merely uptight. The change that eventually occurs in his attitudes is hinted at very early on. The result is that he is nowhere near is frightening or intimidating a character as he could have been. At the same time his troubled relationships with his rebellious daughter and quiet wife(Dianne Wiest) are very well written and acted. In these scenes he excels and his character's development seems very natural.

On the technical side, the film is well-shot and the gloriously Eighties soundtrack complements the proceedings very well, bringing the necessary exhuberance and bounce to the whole movie.

Whilst "Footloose" is certainly no masterpiece, it succeeds in being a lighthearted knockabout caper, and as such is a very enjoyable movie.

Footloose is a brilliant film. Kevin Bacon gives as usual an amazing performance as he plays Ren MacCormack here. Other great performances come from Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Chris Penn and Sarah Jessica Parker. The music is really good and the dance sequences are amazing. Footloose is a must see and it deserves a 10/10

Aw, come on IMDb'ers, why the low rating? Where's your sense of loyalty? I can't hear that Kenny Loggins title song and see those pairs of dancing feet during the opening credits without sitting down to watch this whole movie. And even if it's largely to make fun of it, I still love it for old times' sake.

Kevin Bacon is the tough city kid stuck in some podunk Midwest town where dancing has been outlawed. John Lithgow is the preacher who serves as Bacon's arch nemesis; Lori Singer is the preacher's daughter who has a hankering for the new dangerous kid. Dianne Wiest is the reasonable mom who acts as referee between dad and daughter. The whole thing is sillier than an episode of "Laugh-In," but many of the actors (particularly Lithgow, Wiest and Bacon) are good enough to actually sell the material. And come on, admit it, you know you like the music.

Grade: B+

Teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) moves to a small mid Western town with his mom after his parents divorce. It seems the Reverend Moore (John Lithgow), of the town's only church, has totally banned rock and roll music from the entire town. He has a daughter named Ariel (Lori Singer) who is basically a hell-raiser--yet loves her father. Rem decides to stop the ban and bring the town back to life.

OK--we're not dealing with reality here at ALL! A town banning rock music entirely is ridiculous and the town only has ONE church? And the game of chicken using tractors was just silly. And don't get me started on how Bacon, Singer, Chris Penn and Sarah Jessica Parker look WAY too old to be high school students--Singer was THIRTY when she did this! And how the heck did all the kids from the town learn how to dance so quickly? But, as a no brain musical, this does work.

The opening sequence alone is great (it shows various feet dancing to the title tune). Also the acting helps a lot. Bacon is just great--he doesn't take the movie too seriously and gives out a very good performance. He also has a big dance number (to a song called "Never") which is him and THREE different stuntman doing the more unrealistic moves. Singer is too old for her role but she tries. Penn is pretty good as Bacon's best friend--his learning how to dance sequence is a highlight. Parker did this before she was known and she's not bad. Lithgow and Wiest are just great as the Reverend and his wife--Wiest has a great scene where she calmly tells him off and Lithgow (wisely) does not play the Reverend as a one-note character. You see him trying to understand his daughter and slowly realizing that music isn't bad.

So--this is no "Singin in the Rain" but for a 1980s teen musical it's lots of fun. Great songs too. Just turn off your brain and enjoy!