Footloose
Rated PG-13. Our Ratings: V-4 ;L -3 ; S/N –6.
Running time: 1 hour 53 min.
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All’s well that ends well for Ren and Rev.
Shaw. © 2011 Paramount Pictures |
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
Psalm 149:1-3
For everything there is a season, and a time for
every matter under heaven…
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance…
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4-5
Director Craig Brewer and his scriptwriters have created a high-energy update
of the 1984 teenager
classic in which rock music is banned from their small town. The original
version required the sus
pension of belief that even in an out of the way town teenagers would have
no contact with rock music. This time it is avoided by having the youth well
aware of the banned music and sneaking out to a drive-in/restaurant to dance
to the forbidden songs.
In real dancer Kenny Wormald the filmmakers have found a credible replacement
for Kevin Bacon’s big city kid Ren McCormack. One of the dance highlights
is his letting off steam in an old warehouse as he turns up the volume on
his player and performs an acrobatic dance that includes him swinging from
the rafters and a pulley on a chain almost as much as he bounces around on
the floor. Dennis Quaid also is an excellent replacement for John Lithglow
as the Rev. Shaw, the narrow-minded minister who caused dancing and loud
music to be banished from their small town because of a tragic accident three
years earlier following a dance.
After caring for and then losing his mother to leukemia in Boston, Ren comes
to Bomont, Georgia to live with his aunt and uncle and their young children.
From the start he gets into trouble with the law for playing his car radio
too loud. This leads to trouble with his school principal, and then a bit
later, he has aroused the enmity of fellow student Chuck Cranston (Patrick
John Flueger), whose girlfriend Ariel (Julianne Hough) has been making eyes
at the new kid. This leads to an unbelievable incident in which Chuck, Ren,
and other teenagers drive old school busses in a dangerous race. (Whoever
came up with this hair-brained sequence ought to be fired! Where did the
kids get the money to buy these and to risk wrecking them so spectacularly?)
After a series of such events Ren decides to circulate a petition to overturn
the city ordinance and go before the town council to speak on its behalf.
Inspired by the Reverend’s rebellious daughter Ariel, Ren, as in the
original, makes good use of Biblical material in a climactic scene at the
town council.
Besides my quibble over the bus race, I also find it unbelievable that a
minister’s daughter would be allowed to wear such skimpy, provocative
clothing as Ariel does—or that teachers and other adult members of
her church would not have made this an issue. There is one scene in which
Ariel and her father talk, but there never seems to be any contention at
home over her attire.
The film is thus a very flawed affair, with some scenes that make it bearable
to watch. Best is the sequence in which Ren’s new friend Willard (Miles
Teller), who has always hung back when his girlfriend Rusty (Zia Colon) asks
him to dance, learns from Ren’s young cousins the moves that transform
him into a teenaged Zorba. Also appreciated is the fact that the narrow-minded
pastor can change his mind.
More liberalized use of profanity and sexual suggestions (in dance and kissing
scenes) make this a risky choice for taking a church youth group to see and
discuss it, so proceed with caution—despite its many flaws, the film
could launch a discussion of music and responsibility. However, there are
far better films, including Federico Fellini’s great Zorba the Greek
(that’s for adults; Grease or Saturday Night Live will suffice for
youth) for those who want a dance film, or Land of Plenty in which a narrowed-minded
minister comes to his senses.
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