A cynical and manipulative exercise with little feel for the teen culture it purports to celebrate.
Footloose (1984)
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Synopsis: This classic tale of teen rebellion features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic, touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small midwestern town, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries... This classic tale of teen rebellion features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic, touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small midwestern town, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can't quite believe he's living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is one small pleasure, however: Ariel (Lori Singer), a troubled but lovely blonde--who also has a jealous boyfriend. In fact, it is Ariel's dad (John Lithgow), a Bible-thumping minister, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance--especially since the senior prom is around the corner--but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle. Ren's pent-up frustrations cause a confrontation with Rev. Shaw Moore and the local town council as he takes on the small-town establishment struggling to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople. Herb Ross's fast-paced drama is filled with such hit songs as the title track and "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and is a classic of 1980s Brat Pack cinema. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Christopher Penn
Screenwriter: Dean Pitchford
Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil, Craig Zadan
Composer: Miles Goodman
DVD Info
Release:
May 8, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Dolby Digital Surround - English
- Dolby Digital Stereo - French
Interactive Features:
- Interactive Menus
- Scene Selection
Reviews
Only the most cynical would never admit to tapping their toes to Loggins' title track.
Footloose wasn't exactly a critical fave, but it didn't try to be hip and it had a relatively light touch, with recognizable human beings on the screen.
Essential to the result is young Kevin Bacon, superb in the lead part.
The movie features some good dancing -- not nearly enough, however -- and a fine, understated performance by Lithgow in a role that might easily lend itself to caricature.
Herbert Ross directed this odd but reasonably effective blend of rock music and didactic melodrama.
An 80s milestone, for better or for worse... and a key link to any game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
A lively and entertaining youth drama about the coming of change in a repressive small town.
Footloose is a seriously confused movie that tries to do three things, and does all of them badly.
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