If the thought of dancing being banned makes you want to tear up your tutu with rage and throw your tap dancing shoes at someone, then you’ll probably remember Footloose – but will the remake have the charm of the original?
The current Hollywood obsession for remakes appears to be continuing unabated. It was with a heavy heart that I sat down to watch the latest instalment in this worrying trend - a remake of the classic 1984 film Footloose.
I can’t tell you exactly how many times I was forced to watch this film in my childhood, but it ranks quite high in the list of video tapes that my sister literally wore out by playing them constantly. Kevin Bacon’s cocky, rebellious teenage dancer is forever etched in my memory, whether I want it there or not. In the wake of popular films such as Disney’s High School Musical series and TV shows like Glee there is a renewed interest in all singing, all dancing teenagers and therefore I suppose it was inevitable that Footloose would make it back on to our screens.
The most shocking thing of all is of course that I thoroughly enjoyed the new Footloose, it’s great. It won’t win any Oscars and there are no breakout performances but it works because it has stayed very close to the original film, a rare thing in the world of remakes. When old films are regurgitated for modern audiences it usually boils down to the same film but with loads more mobile phones and people talking about the internet. With Footloose my fear was that due to the nature of the film the honky tonk soundtrack and dance moves would be replaced with blistering hip-hop numbers and lots of krumping. And to a certain extent there is an element of that at work, but it’s done sympathetically and modernises the film without changing the gentle small town America feel that makes Footloose so appealing.
Kenny Wormald plays Ren McCormack and is a pretty good Kevin Bacon substitute although he is perhaps more of a dancer than an actor. Dennis Quaid takes the John Lithgow role of uptight Reverend and Father of Ariel the girl who Ren wants to dance with so badly. Ariel is played by Julianne Hough, and her character has some worrying traits. In a way she represents a rather crude rebellious teenage girl stereotype. Her role was perhaps most in need of modernisation as her actions and treatment seems to belong more in the 1980s than they does in this more enlightened time.
From the opening sequence , through to the spectacular line dancing segment, to the solo numbers and the uplifting finale this is a film about watching people dance. It’s a simple pleasure and one that you’ll need to feel if you’re going to watch the movie. If your toes aren’t tapping when the credits roll then you’re probably at the wrong cinema screen. If I have any criticism it would be that there isn’t nearly enough actual dancing in the film, although they have kept most of the original soundtrack, right down to Deniece William’s Lets Hear it for the Boy. It’s nostalgic, it’s a bit silly but most of all it’s thoroughly good fun.
Footloose is released on Friday 14th October