A decent time-passer that should appeal to its target demographic

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2015)

I haven't seen the '84 original starring Kevin Bacon, so I didn't go into this with those kind of expectations. The plot is a fairly simple teens vs. adults story, so I also wasn't expecting anything terribly deep. And, now having finished it I would say that my limited expectations of at least being entertained were met. Beyond that, FOOTLOOSE is a very clichéd teen drama that just happens to have good music and dancing sequences. The gist of the story is that a city kid, Ren McCormack (Kenny Wormald) moves in with relatives who live in the sleepy southern town of Bomont, Georgia. Three years ago, after a tragic accident took the lives of five teenagers, the town council enacted a series of ordinances that aimed to prevent what caused it. Among those was an ordinance banning public dancing for those under 18 years of age.
To me, such a set up is flimsy at best but the film worked with it in a decent, if pedestrian, way. On the surface is functions as story in which the rebellious teens face off against the stubborn, over-protective adults. But, towards the end, they manage to shoehorn a message about parents learning to trust their children. Nice, but a little too late if you ask me. The most interesting aspect of the film to me was the way in which it pits small-town life and values against real-world logic. I don't feel like the film ever disrespected people who live like that, but it wasn't exactly friendly towards them either. More problematic to me was a minister (Dennis Quaid) who wants to protect his daughter (Julianne Hough) against an abusive guy, yet slaps her across the face when she starts mouthing him off. That one scene came as an unwelcome surprise to me, and something which seemed completely out of character.
In terms of acting, nobody was particularly bad. Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell came off looking the best, but I wouldn't place what they did here among their best work. As for Julianne Hough, let's just say she shouldn't abandon her singing and dancing careers. Kenny Wormald did fine as Ren McCormack but, like every other actor playing a teenager in this film, was utterly unconvincing as such. In terms of filmmaking quality, the cinematography and choreography was fine but unspectacular. Overall, it was a decent time-passer that was fitfully entertaining. It was a little too predictable for my tastes, and also not targeted to me, but that shouldn't stop teenagers enjoying it for the frivolous piece of entertainment that it is.