Footloose was a favorite classic from my youth, and I recently watched it again. Was it as great as I remember? No. But, in some ways, it was better than I remember.
Most people probably remember this as a musical with a lot of dancing. Actually, the dancing and music take up a minimum of screen time. The interpersonal relationships of the characters, particularly between rebellious teen Ariel and her minister father, take up the lion's share of the story. I liked how the minister, who started the movie as a hell-fire-and-damnation caricature, ended up having much more depth later on. We see that he is really a caring pastor, as well as a caring father, who is imperfect, but who wants to do the right thing. I liked how he and his daughter Ariel sort of reconciled with each other before the end of the movie.
Kevin Bacon gives a solid performance as our hero Ren. He is somewhere between nerdy, bullied outsider and edgy bad boy. The character of Ren was very likable, and you get the impression that he really believes in the cause of bringing the joy of dancing to his uptight, repressed small town, and isn't just out to make trouble. Lori Singer is fine as Ariel, though I found her character to be a bit annoying. Sure, she's dealing with her own demons from the death of her brother and the neglect from her father, but I found her to be a selfish brat most of the time.
The whole storyline was a little dopey. Yeah, it was supposedly based on a true story of a small midwestern town that really did ban dancing. But as a social commentary, this movie took on a problem that was extraordinarily uncommon. As a religious person, I didn't appreciate how religious people were portrayed as authoritarian Nazis in this movie. Yes, there may be Christians out there who don't want certain books on their kids' required reading list, but that's a far cry from the book burning scene in this movie. I am not aware of any widespread instances of that, even back in 1984. I thought it was an unfair characterization.
There was one other thing that bugged me. This movie was filmed in my home state of Utah, with mountain scenes prominently displayed, yet it's implied that the movie takes place in some midwestern town a state or two removed from Chicago, IL. No mountains in that part of the country, I'm afraid. BTW, the dominant religious culture in small-town Utah is Mormon, and Mormons are decidedly pro-dancing, as my multiple experiences attending Mormon church dances will attest. No wonder they decided to have the location be somewhere besides Utah.
My absolute favorite scene from this movie was the montage where Ren was teaching his friend Willard how to dance, accompanied by "Let's Hear it for the Boy" by Deniece Williams. That scene is classic and lots of fun. My vote for most stupid scene was the scene where they played chicken on tractors. Only a scene of them attempting cow tipping would have been more stupid.
Rewatching this movie after a few decades was certainly a trip down memory lane, and I did still enjoy it, though this time with a more critical eye. But it was still entertaining after all these years.
