Footloose

To the same extent Ava Gardner movies lingered on her face in the 1950's and Jessica Alba movies visually caressed her abdomen in 1990's movies so does this moving on the backside of Julianne Hough. Likely this has partially to do with Craig Brewer's personal interests and a lack of other interesting images to look at in a pointless remake of the Kevin Bacon "classic" (assuming you grew up in the 80's). The main drag on the film grows from the lack of a Kevin Bacon-level compelling talent among the cast. When Kenny Womald utters the iconic "let's dance" to the camera you could picture yourself opting to sit this one out instead. When Dennis Quaid as Ariel's father and town elder finally has his change of heart, it comes as no really emotional catharsis given Quaid's earnestness and track record as the good guy leading man. Now Randy Quaid would have made an interesting and likely challenging from a product standpoint casting choice. Julianne Hough plays Ariel as more sleazy than fun-loving and her dance moves do kind of make you agree to an extent with the Reverend. As always, Andie MacDowell brings her inexcusably flat line readings to a part that could have been cut from the film with little effect. Everyone else in the film comes across as the indistinguishable chorus line from a traveling company version of the Footloose Musical. Having said all that, the movie brings some entertaining visuals although it someone screws up the soundtrack; the version of "Holding Out for a Hero" used her is a sacrilege of the original Bonnie Tyler version of the Jim Steinman song. In short, see the original instead; although it wasn't very good either, the music was amazing.

I enjoy bad movies, and enjoy bad remakes even more. So when the opportunity to get advanced passes to the atrocious looking remake of Footloose came, I pounced on them just out of the sheer will to see what kind of monstrosity Craig Brewer and company came up with. The film had gone through a number of changes, and had plenty of room to improve on the original. Sadly, I do not think there was ever any hope for it.

After a horrific accident takes the lives of five high school seniors, the town of Bomont, Tennessee outlaws a number of activities for the teenage populace including dancing. Enter Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormald), a city kid and distinct outsider to the close knit Bomont townspeople. He is confused by the bans, and after making a few new friends, sets out to get them abolished.

While the nostalgia factor may cloud the memories of some people, the original Footloose is really nothing more than a fun diversion packed alongside an absolutely infectious soundtrack that is still great even today. It is a fairly silly film really, but with the help of Kevin Bacon's 1984-era charm and charisma, the film remains a wildly enjoyable film. Yet somehow, in remaking the film for an audience in 2011, it seems like the filmmakers missed more than a few steps along the way.

Now I will be the first to admit that this new remake does have a handful of fun scenes and astonishing dance choreography. The trailers do a good job of showing off just how great some of the dance moves are from this new cast, but what it does not let on too much is that most of these scenes come when they are replicating scenes from the original film. I basked in the glory of hearing Kenny Loggins blasting, while watching the various pairs of feet dancing to the beat. And seeing Willard (Miles Teller) learning how to dance is one of the highlights of the film, much like it is the original film. A key dance sequence late in the film is also significantly better than I could have ever predicted.

But that is where the enjoyment ends.

The rest of the film that surrounds these scenes is dull and lifeless, moving at a snail's pace and just going through the motions. There is very little fun to be had, and should someone venture into the film without having seen the original, they may wonder why anyone wanted to remake it in the first place. Instead of trying to improve and make the plot line less ludicrous, the filmmakers left the entire crux of the film the exact same. They merely changed a few character traits around, shuffled in some racy dialogue, and took out the tractors and added in school buses. They sucked out all the fun, and what is left seems like a mere project that was cranked out with little to no thought for what audiences may actually perceive to be enjoyable.

Worse yet, the soundtrack is a totally forgettable affair. While it is the crucial element of the original film, it feels like a largely laughable affair here. I was originally intrigued at the idea of the film containing all the original songs, albeit covered by new artists. But somehow, all of the catchiness of the original tunes seems to have been stripped from these new ones. Instead, we are left with versions that have a country twang or overtly urban feel to them, and absolutely no reason to want to listen to these new versions ever again. I would be lying if I did not think the most memorable tracks in the film were the two original ones that somehow were deemed okay to fit into the film. I would register a guess that this is the influence of Brewer, who is best known for Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan. He has a distinctly Southern taste to his body of work, and practically forces it on this film. But in forcing this ideology, alongside two completely different genres of music, he crushes the film into submission, leaving many scenes an absolute mess.

The acting in the film is even more disappointing. Dennis Quaid looks embarrassed in every scene he is in, overacting as much as he possibly can to forget that he is in the film. Andie McDowell looks like she wandered in off the wrong set, and just decided to stick around as a background character. Wormald is a poor substitute for Bacon, and is an even worse lead for a major motion picture. I realize he is a dancer first and foremost, but leaving him to carry this film was an awful decision. He looks frightened and confused for the majority of the film, and quivers through most of his lines. He lacks Ren's charm, and is never believable when he rebels against authority. You want to believe in this character, but all you will do is laugh at how staggeringly bad Wormald's performance is. Julianne Hough, the female lead, at least attempts to act. She comes close to a breakthrough in more than one instance, but she comes off a bit too amateur for her own good. She makes a great dance partner for Wormald, but for what little shred of chemistry she has, it is made totally moot when he opens his mouth.

What redeems the film from being the awful travesty it should be is Teller's performance as Willard. The moment he walks on-screen, he has an energy to him that is simply unmatchable. He is the single best thing about the film, embodying the innocence, spirit and fun of Chris Penn's original performance. If you venture into this remake, see it for him and ignore the rest. You may find some remotely enjoyable experience buried in there somewhere.

4/10.

The small town of Bomont imposed curfews and banned loud music and dancing after an accident killed five teenagers including Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid)'s son. Three years later, Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) moves from Boston to live with his aunt and uncle after his mother's death from leukemia. He finds the small town restrictive. He also finds reverent's daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) rebelling against the system. He makes a friend in Willard (Miles Teller).

I don't think it's a wise move to show the accident. It makes the ban more reasonable and harder to oppose. The Reverend is supposed to be overreaching and becoming unreasonable over the years. However the bigger problem has to be Kenny Wormald. He's more of a dancer than an actor. He doesn't have the charisma or the likability to lead. Julianne Hough comes off better. Although I would have prefer she has better separation between her two lives. She needs to dress down more as the preacher's daughter. This is a functional dance movie but not much else. It's also sad to see that the filmmaker can't think of ways to change up the story. This is obviously a Julianne Hough star vehicle. So it would be so much better to make her the newcomer to town and the lead of the movie.

Full disclosure time: I saw the original 1984 version at the now-defunct Cinema 8 multiplex at the also-now defunct Bon Marche Mall (the buildings have been renovated into other places) and I remember enjoying it very much at the one time I watched it in its entirety. I had also bought the soundtrack LP album beforehand and had highly enjoyed that several times as a teenager. Then there were also videos of several of its hits like Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy", Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero", and Kenny Loggins' title song which consisted mainly of clips of Kevin Bacon's (or his dance double's) movements. So it was with all that in mind that I saw this remake with an open head. The verdict: I still had a good time though my excitement factor wasn't as overwhelming perhaps because of my fond memories of the original and some of the changes didn't seem necessary. Still, having the actor Miles Teller playing the same role done by Chris Penn nearly 30 years before in learning to dance and enjoying himself as a result was still a highlight in both versions. And former "Dancing with the Stars" pro Julianne Hough shows some chops in reenacting the Lori Singer role. And while Kenny Wormald won't make you forget Bacon in his iconic role, he's not too bad either. And the same goes for Dennis Quaid playing the John Lithgow part. So on that note, this version of Footloose is recommended.

I was a teen when the original movie came out, and I also live near Lehi, Utah where it was filmed which made me think fondly of the movie whenever I drove by the Lehi Roller Mills. (Today it is a sprawling metropolis, resembling little of the sleepy little town like in the movie.) When I heard another pointless remake was coming out, I decided to give it the Redbox treatment instead of completely boycotting it.

After watching it with my wife who had never seen the original, I was able to say, "Not so bad, but pointless as a remake." Most of the original music (which I still love) was recycled into something recognizable but not lovable. The scenes played out nearly identical to the original but with different actors. The whole way through it, I had the feeling that the director was watching the original on a hand-held device, then turned to the actors and said, "I have an idea for this next scene." If I recall correctly, even the dialog where it wasn't modernized with MP3 players (instead of cassette players) and cell phones (instead of...what the heck did we have?) was word for word.

Usually remakes are for big block busters where today's technology and special effects can outshine the feeble attempts of the past and make a great story better by sucking the audience in. This movie had none of that, and in summary, became another pointless Hollywood rehash for quick cash. The only improvement I could acknowledge was a sub-plot that explained Ren's actions a little better, but it was still not an excuse to remake a classic.

My advice: watch the original. It's much better.