Footloose- Movie Review

Directed by Craig Brewer
Screenplay by Dean Pitchford and Craig Brewer, story by Dean Pitchford.
Running Time: 113 minutes (1h, 53 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language).
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Out of all the films Hollywood recycled for this generation, Footloose is probably one of the oddest. I know many people who love the 1984 original, despite some of its cheesiness and its silly plot. Personally, I think the original is decent stuff and something that shouldn't be attempted to remake. Looks like Paramount didn't listen to that last part. What's next: Flashdance? Oops.

For those who haven't seen the original and don't know what the plot is: Big-city guy Ren McCormick (Kenny Wormald) moves to the small southern town Bomont to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins. When Ren finds out that dancing and loud music has been banned due to a car accident that killed five teenagers three years ago, one of them being Rev. Shaw Moore's (Dennis Quaid) son, he decides to challenge the law and during that time, falls in love with Ariel (Julianne Hough), the reverend's troubled daughter.

Now, I'm gonna keep this review brief since I have another film to screen. I mentioned before in this and in an earlier post dating back to August that a remake was unnecessary, but after watching this, I am surprised. With the exception of Fright Night, most remakes this year have been pretty underwheming. Luckily, this isn't. Sure, it's has the same silly plot and there's still some cheese, but between the cheese is some grit. Yes, I'm saying this remake is a bit more grittier than the original.

The performances are pretty good. Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are fine as the leads. This is bound to make Wormald a big star, much like what the original did for Kevin Bacon. Same for Hough, who with the number of roles she's been getting lately will be much bigger than the original's Lori Singer. Dennis Quaid is good as Shaw originally played by John Lithgow and Andie MacDowell is fine as Shaw's wife. Miles Teller is great as Ren's friend Willard, which was originally played by the late Chris Penn. Teller played the same role in the stage musical version.

Direction comes from Craig Brewer, who also wrote the screenplay with the original film's scripter, Dean Pitchford. Brewer knows things about music, as we learned from his last two features: Hustle & Flow, which brought us into the rap music world (and which got rap group Three 6 Mafia an Oscar win) and Black Snake Moan, which featured a lot of blues music. Here, it's country, rock and some rap. Brewer directs it well, even a little better than the original's Herbert Ross. In this new version, Brewer shows the car accident that caused the ban of dancing and the opening credits, where we see a bunch of feet dancing along to the title song (Kenny Loggins' original version, Blake Shelton's version appears at the end), is set on the dance floor which is unlike the original.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a better version than the original because despite some changes (especially the dancing), it does feel like the original. However, I had a lot of fun with this one. There are good performances, some awesome choreography (by Jamal Sims) and good direction. Anyone who's fresh to this will enjoy it and anyone who's seen the 1984 film will likely enjoy it as well. The audience in my screening was a mix of both those people and they clapped right after the movie was over. I give the film *** (3 stars).