Movie Review: 'Footloose'

Let’s be real now – nobody, and I mean nobody, can resist the urge to start dancing when they hear the song Footloose come on. First off: I was so ready to hate the new Footloose movie. All I could think to myself was: another remake, really? And that scene from the trailer with all the teens gyrating on top of each other, Step Up-style? No thank you. And then the first few notes of the Kenny Loggins classic came on, and I, like the rest of the theater (filled with many who were, I kid you not, clapping and dancing around in their seats), instantly found myself giving in to this high energy, surprisingly fun remake.

Newcomer Kenny Wormald stars as rebellious city boy Ren McCormack, who has just moved to the small town of Beaumont, where dancing is illegal. In the first shot that introduces Wormald, he gets off that bus and into Beaumont in full teen heartthrob mode. He pulls it off well, but he is no Kevin Bacon. Not by a long shot. He’s got the accent, the swagger, the looks. But something is missing from him, that same thing that Bacon had which is the reason he was catapulted into stardom after the release of the original Footloose. It’s probably just the ability to show more than just one facial expression throughout the entire film. Still, the teens will love him.

Julianne Hough, who plays Ariel, the preacher’s daughter/Ren’s love interest, is just as annoying and needlessly reckless as Lori Singer’s Ariel, the key difference between them being that Hough wiggles her hips so much when she walks in her skin-tight jeans that I’d be surprised if she wasn’t in a constant state of soreness. Interestingly, the only member of the cast to make a real impression was Miles Teller in the role of Ren’s sidekick, Willard. He’s funny, dorkishly charming, and has some of the best scenes – including the Ren teaching Willard to dance montage to “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” pulled straight from the 1984 version.


Where the remake most succeeds is with the improvements it made upon some of the shortcomings of the original. I love the original as much as the next person, but it can’t help but feel a little outdated when watched by modern audiences. The 2011 version kicks up the energy, and plays with tension well enough that the audience was audibly responsive, especially in one scene involving a fight between the town preacher (Dennis Quaid) and Ariel…trust me, you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it.

Fans of the original will be delighted to see some of their favorite iconic scenes in the remake, including Ren’s angry gymnastics dance, as well as the end school dance scene equipped with confetti galore and Ren screaming “Lets Dance!” just how you remembered it from all those years ago. And trust me, when you hear that final line, you’ll be more than happy to put on your dancing shoes and cut footloose.

Rating: B