Almost three decades ago (1984), Footloose the Musical came out and made a star of Kevin Bacon in the leading role, Ren McCormack. (Tom Cruise was supposed to play the lead role but was unavailable due to filming All the Right Moves.) In October, 2011 a remake of the classic musical was released to theatres. The original Footloose is very similar to the remake, with some slight changes. Generally, it follows the same story line. Overall, the modern Footloose incorporates a modern twist to a popular 1984 musical.
Ren McCormack, played by Kenny Wormald, is a loud teenager who was raised in Chicago by his single mother. When his mother dies, he moves to the small town of Bomont to live with his aunt and uncle. Bomont has been traumatized after five high school seniors were killed in a deadly car crash coming home from a party. The grieving adults of the small town decided to enact several rules after the incident, including an earlier curfew and bans on loud music and public dancing. The Reverend in Bomont, played by Dennis Quaid, lost his only son in the crash and has several emotional moments throughout the movie. He also happens to be the father of Ariel, played by Lori Singer in the 1984 film, and by Julianne Hough in the remake.
The first movie portrays more unnecessary details, going through certain scenes much slower, but not yet at the point of dragging on or boredom. The remake provides more important details and does a better job explaining why Ren moved there, why the town banned dancing, and why he’s trying to reverse the law. There are other small changes making the new movie more modern, such as racing buses instead of tractors and remixed or completely remade songs that go with modern dance moves. A change from the original is that Ren’s mother doesn’t die in the older film, instead it’s his father. They use his mother’s death as the main idea in the new movie and a lot revolves around his feelings about the incident. They also show the car crash in the new Footloose, adding even more overwhelming emotion to the beginning.
When I heard about the idea of a town banning dancing I thought it was a little silly because I didn’t think dancing could be such a big deal. But after watching Footloose I completely understand the importance of it in Bomont. The dancing scenes were well choreographed and exciting to watch. Normally, I wouldn’t like a musical, but the songs were so catchy and the dancing was so impressive, that I wanted to get up and dance too.
Ren is known as a bad boy with a Boston accent, a little out of place in the small town of Bomont. Despite this, he meets a goofy country boy named Willard, played by Miles Teller, and they soon become great friends. He also meets a football player (Ser’ Darius Blain), a nice girl (Ziah Colon) and the reverend’s daughter, Ariel, who happens to be very rebellious and not at all what her father wants her to be.
While Ren deals with police, Ariel’s abusive boyfriend, adults in the town, and the reverend, he turns to dancing as his outlet. Eventually, he petitions the town council to repeal the dancing ban. The movie became suspenseful at this point, adding interest for viewers. Footloose is exciting because there are so many surprises throughout the film. It’s not your average small town character moving to the city, it’s the complete opposite.
Footloose ends with a great dancing scene that has you walking away in a good mood, and a catchy tune in your head. “I absolutely loved this movie and I could watch it over and over again any day,” exclaimed Sophomore Katelyn Perrett after seeing Footloose. Overall, it is a great film with a fun and sincere plot about a city boy changing a small town and dancing his way around the laws.
