Footloose (1984)

Footloose

The movie was shipped fast and received in very good condition. I will most definitely order from this sellar again July 3, 2008

Still powerful after 2 decades+

I watched this movie in the 1980's, and loved it. The soundtrack from Footloose and Flash Dance were part of my workout routine at the time. (When I was thinner, and more fit.)

The story itself is perhaps a bit improbable. Imagine, a town banning dancing and rock 'n roll music?! Oh, but wait, remember how so many people in the 1950's warned against the evils of Rock 'n Roll? Maybe this story isn't so offbase.

This movie is really a story of adolescents struggling to find themselves, struggling with the good and bad, and finding a good way to express themselves.

I identified with Ren McCormick very easily. My adolescence was a struggle to express my identity. Unlike "the hero," my struggle was not quite so successful. Through this movie, I can enjoy a successful struggle, vicariously.

Over the years, I've played the CD of the soundtrack so many times that it wore out. I need to buy another CD.

I recently purchased the Special Collector's Edition of the movie... and it still touched me, after all these years. June 29, 2008

One of my favorites

Footloose" is a fun and very lighthearted motion picture that promises a good time and delivers.

The film has a simple, if unlikely, plotline. Streetsmart but gentle teenager Ren MacCormack(Kevin Bacon) arrives from the big city with his mother in the backwater town of Bomont. Enrolling at the local high school, he is appalled to discover the town's adults have imposed a law on "public dancing" and rock music, as enforced and practiced by the local preacher(John Lithgow). Ren quickly sets about changing things, falling in love with the preacher's daughter Ariel (Lori Singer) in the process.

The story is a little unlikely yet it is perfectly suitable for the teenaged audience at which it is pitched. The script takes some time to explore its simple theme - dancing and rock music, and what they symbolise for young people. Three scenes help to lay this out. The first sees Ren dancing by himself in a barn; the town meeting where Ren presents his case to the townspeople and explains to them the meaning of the dance; and the final prom sequence in which the teens of Bomont revel in their newfound liberation.

As the leading man, Kevin Bacon carries off his role very well. Ren isn't really a macho hero revelling in coolness, he's a down-to-earth young man trying to the right thing by his peers. His romance with Lori Singer's character Ariel is formulaic but perfectly inoffensive.

The film could have perhaps done with a little more nastiness to fully contrast against Ren's earnest intentions. Even Ariel's brutish boyfriend(Jim Young) fails to inject much tension in this respect and the final fistfight between him and Ren comes across as being a bit lame.

John Lithgow's characterisation is very good but it is a little too subtle. As the town Reverend and preacher of all things pure and holy, his extreme views come across not so much as puritanical, just merely uptight. The change that eventually occurs in his attitudes is hinted at very early on. The result is that he is nowhere near is frightening or intimidating a character as he could have been. At the same time his troubled relationships with his rebellious daughter and quiet wife(Dianne Wiest) are very well written and acted. In these scenes he excels and his character's development seems very natural.

On the technical side, the film is well-shot and the gloriously Eighties soundtrack complements the proceedings very well, bringing the necessary exhuberance and bounce to the whole movie.

Whilst "Footloose" is certainly no masterpiece, it succeeds in being a lighthearted knockabout caper, and as such is a very enjoyable movie. April 8, 2008

Footloose and fanciful

Good movie overall, in my opinion. The way it was made is most of the appeal (music written for the plot), but the plot resonates too. There are a lot of religious people who act like the people in this town, trying to keep bad things from ever happening. But being straight-laced comes way too close to straight-jacketed here, and in a fairly stereotypical way. They could've used a little more balance in the religious things, but for the purposes of the story it isn't that far from usual.

The kids don't realize it in the movie, but the reason parents are hesitant to allow complete freedom such as teens desire is proved by their own actions here. In the movie dumb things happen and no one gets hurt, but in reality it is much less certain.

Nevertheless there is much to like about Footloose. The special features are nice to watch and very instructive also, with an interesting back story. March 28, 2008

Bacon's Best!

This movie makes me feel happy. I don't dance like Kevin, but I can dream! December 26, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...