Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Footloose (1984) review

(9/10)

Call me crazy, but I loved this movie.

PLOT:Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) is a teenage kid who has just moved to a small town where dancing has been abolished and named unholy by the town's priest, Shaw (John Lithgow), and because the kid wants to play his music and dance, he is labeled as a troublemaker and a punk by the whole town. With the help of his new friend, Willard (Chris Penn) and the preacher's daughter, Ariel (Lori Singer), they try to get the town to cut loose and let the senior class have a dance. The plot is a cheesy-yet-interesting idea executed to the feel of an 80s flick.


ACTING:Some might say the acting was cheesy, but it was fine with me. The only actor I considered to be the least bit cheesy was Chris Penn as Willard, and I believe it kind of fit his character. The shining performances are Kevin Bacon as Ren McCormick, Lori Singer as Ariel, and John Lithgow as Reverend Shaw. There was one actress who I thought didn't do the best job I've seen her do in here, and that was Dianne Wiest as Vi Moore. I've just seen her use more power and emotion than she did in here.

SCORE:The score is one of the most memorable things about the movie. The soundtrack is composed of memorable '80s hits such as "Metal Health" and "Waiting for a Girl Like You" and even some of its own score became memorable, such as Loggins' "Footloose", the love theme "Almost Paradise", and the pop-girl hit "Let's Hear It for the Boy".


OTHER CONTENT:I know this movie is looked down on by a good bit of critics, but I could not help but love it. It was fun, energetic, inspirational, and I could even relate to it! Though I am a religious follower of Christianity, I have some beliefs that aren't considered the best. I can relate to Kevin Bacon's character in here because he is somewhat religious, but he believes in a separate philosophy than his town. The only couple things I found wrong with this movie are that there wasn't enough dancing for this to be a "dancing" film, and I will admit that it was a bit of a cheesy film. I just looked past it most of the time and thought of the fun and inspiration I got from this film. Call me crazy, but I loved the original Footloose!

OVERALL,an awesome '80s movie with a pure '80s plot, mainly fine acting, toe-tapping score, a philosophy to which I can relate, fun, and inspiration, but there was lesser dancing than required and it was a bit cheesy.

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