Susan Granger’s review of “Footloose” (Paramount Pictures)
As this remake begins, the small, Southern, bible-belt town of Bomont is grief-stricken over the tragic death of five local teenagers in a car accident after a party. Led by Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid), the town council overreacts, setting a curfew for kids and banning all loud music and public dancing.
Three years later, following the death of his mother, Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormaid) moves from Boston to Bomont, settling in with his aunt (Kim Dickens) and uncle (Ray McKinnon). Flaunting a defiant spirit, Ren immediately catches the attention of Ariel (Julianne Hough), the rebellious daughter of overprotective Rev. Moore and his wife Vi (Andie MacDowell), incurring the wrath of Ariel’s abusive boyfriend, Chuck Cranston (Patrick John Flueger). The subplot involving Ren’s clumsy best friend, Willard (Miles Teller), who learns to dance to please his girlfriend Rusty (Ziah Colon), is charming.
Director Craig Brewer (“Hustle and Flow,” “Black Snake Moan”) has revised the familiar script with Dean Pitchford, who wrote the original screenplay, along with the lyrics for the title song. They’ve astutely duplicated Ren’s angry warehouse dance, set now to the White Stripes’s “Catch Hell Blues,” and the ‘fake’ prom finale in which the entire cast, led by Ren, moves toward the camera with the energetic cast in unison behind him.
Upping the ante this time, pro dancer-turned-actress Juliette Hough (“Burlesque”) twice won “Dancing With the Stars” and acrobatic Kenny Wormald (MTV’s “Dancelife”) toured with Justin Timberlake. From choreographer Jamal Sims, there’s a fresh, new hip-hop sequence at a drive-in movie theater and a country line-dancing number at an Atlanta club.
For the curious, in Herb Ross’s original 1984 version, which occupied a lofty place among the dance films of the ‘80s, like “Dirty Dancing,” “Flashdance” and “Fame,” Ren was played by Kevin Bacon, who admitted to using body doubles for the dancing sequences, while Lori Singer was Ariel, John Lithgow was the preacher, and Rusty was a very young Sarah Jessica Parker.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Footloose” is a rockin’ 7. It’s toe-tapping adolescent angst.
