Ileana’s Review: Footloose Offers Great Dancing, Flat Acting

Footloose

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough

Summary: Ren (Wormald) has just moved to the small town of Bomont to live with his aunt and uncle. Accustomed to life in the big city, Ren has trouble adjusting to the restrictive rules of the small town, especially the ban on public dancing. To complicate matters Ren strikes up a relationship with the rebellious preacher’s daughter Ariel (Hough). In the end Ren creates a movement to overturn the ban on dancing and wins over Ariel’s father (Quaid).

There are good ways to remake films (Ocean’s Eleven, True Grit) and bad ways (Psycho, The Day the Earth Stood Still). For me this remake falls somewhere in between. I absolutely love the 1984 version with Kevin Bacon and all its 80s cheesiness, but I can also understand why some people will like this version. The biggest difference between the two is that the 80s version has actors that occasionally dance, while the new version has dancers who occasionally act. Anyone who’s a fan of dance movies like Step Up and Center Stage (which I am) will enjoy the amazing choreography, but even though the dancing is great, the acting falls flat. Also, as a huge fan of 80s music, I didn’t like the “modern” take on the iconic soundtrack.

Trivia: Kenny Wormald performed most of his own dance moves. He was a former back-up dancer for Justin Timberlake.

Rated: PG-13 – For some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language.

Grade: C