Let’s hear it for “Footloose.” Against all odds (and there are many) the remake of the 1980s classic is a lively, ingratiating entertainment.
Somehow it recreates a place almost devoured by shopping malls: small-town America.
Not since “Peyton Place” (1957) has a movie so sneakily captured the ambiance and hypocrisy of small town life. “Peyton Place” was, of course, based on a sordid, sensational novel. The movie version was expected to be trash, but it turned out to be Americana on a large (and sanitized) scale – receiving 9 Academy Award nominations. (The subsequent television series is another thing altogether).
“Footloose,” 2011, faced similar if not even more formidable obstacles. Kenny Ortega, originally announced as the director, resigned, replaced by Craig Brewer. Both Zac Efron and Chace Crawford turned down the lead, perhaps intimidated by the threat of replacing Kevin Bacon.
The subject matter itself seems ill adapted to an update. How do you make a current movie about a town outlawing dancing and rock ‘n roll? We know that rock is here to stay, and evolve into punk and hip-hop.
The new movie squeaks by on that count because hypocrisy mixed with adult bullying is just as evident now as in 1984. If anything, the sanctimony of religious zealots is more prevalent now than then. The plot element still works, mainly by keeping the motive that a horrible, fatal traffic accident occurred because teen-agers of the past had been irresponsible.
The setting of the original ban was Elmore City, Okla. (And, yes, this IS based on a true incident). The ‘84 movie version was set in a Midwestern town called Bomont with bad boy Ren McCormack coming from Chicago. Word that the current version would be set in the South, specifically Georgia, was greeted with suspicion that the film would become yet another example of geographic bias filled with Hollywood’s usual depiction of the South as the home of fat sheriffs, rednecks and trailer parks.
Surprisingly, the new movie’s Bomont, Ga. is a throwback to the heyday of small towns. It is racially integrated. In fact the movie provides no hint of racial tension.
Dennis Quaid replaces John Lithgow as the local preacher trying to keep his flock on the straight and narrow without, at the same time, becoming narrow minded. Quaid has a scene of conversion that would be difficult for any actor. He handles it perfectly.
Kenny Wormald is OK as the bad boy from Boston, and he handles the trademark “angry dance” well, although it is now set in a cotton gin, rather than a grain mill.
The preacher’s daughter, a rebellious girl who is a remnant of the classic Natalie Wood character in “Rebel Without a Cause,” is now played by “Dancing With the Stars” vet Julianne Hough. She is drop-dead gorgeous and not believably a teen but highly decorative. She doesn’t get nearly enough chance to dance.
The current director brings Southern grit to the proceedings. If “Straw Dogs” is the year’s worst offender at stereotyping Southern cliches, “Footloose” is a lone antidote. Scene after scene of potential embarrassment manages to somehow survive. The town gossips are thwarted. Ren quotes Bible verses to support dancing and rejoicing.
Four of the original songs survive. The title song, nominated for an Oscar, is now an upbeat country number, replacing Kenny Loggins’ version. “Holding Out for a Hero,” originally sung by Bonnie Tyler, is now done by country singer Ella Mae Bowen. “Let’s Hear it for the Boy,” done by Deniece Williams in the original, is now assigned to Jana Kramer. “Almost Paradise” is also there.
It ain’t over until Senior Prom. Shake that booty one more time.
Source:-hamptonroads.com