Movie Review: Footloose
Footloose is one of those movies I thought I had seen a million times because of how familiar I was with the dance scenes and the music. After a conversation with a friend about the story and its presentation of religion it occurred to me that I had never actually sat and watched it from start to finish. It was an edifying and entertaining experience. Footloose, for the most part, holds up great. That opening musical number with the dancing feet is iconic. Kevin Bacon gives a true breakout performance as Ren, the city boy transplanted to small town Utah wherein dancing and rock music have been banned.
My aforementioned friend assumed I would side with the film’s antagonist, the conservative Reverend Shaw (played masterfully by John Lithgow) who led the effort to ban rock music and dance to preserve the virtue of the town’s young people. Yet as both a musician and a Catholic I have never related to that sort of puritanism (it’s really more a particular flavor of protestantism). I went into this flick ready to root for Ren as he wooed the preacher’s rebellious daughter Ariel and fought for the right to have a high school dance for the town’s students.
And then I watched the movie. The first thing that snuck up on me was how much more likable Reverend Shaw was compared to Ren. Sure Ren is a cool guy and all, but his motivation for wanting to fight the town’s religious practices is shallow. As an American who has lived in Asia a long time I can’t help but find it hostile to move into a new society and then presume to rewrite its culture to suit your preferences. You need a strong personal stake to justify that. Ren does a lot sketchy stuff too. He crashes a tractor. He takes other kids out to a seedy bar for underage drinking (they’re all supposed to be in high school) where drunk older men try to “take home” teenage girls. He’s not a bad kid but a lot of his and Ariel’s choices seem to bolster the town’s antipathy toward rock music and dance.
Reverend Shaw by contrast is shown to be incredibly reasonable. He actively fights against the extremist book-burning wing of his town arguing for compassion. When his rebellious daughter embarrasses him multiple times and blasphemes loudly in his church he shows restraint. Shaw resolves his conflict with Ren through a quiet man to man conversation, ultimately choosing to relent on the rule about dancing for reasons that are thoughtful and don’t undermine his values. In short Shaw is a bad villain because he’s not even a villain.
I can account for some teenage tomfoolery in Ren and I didn’t need Shaw to be a complete caricature. However the devil, as they say, is in the details. Many character choices diluted the basic theme. For example, Ariel is shown to be incredibly reckless and a danger to herself (she gets slapped multiple times and every time deserves it). I liked the added backstory about her older brother dying in a drunken car accident which led to the change in law about music. It added some needed depth to her and Shaw’s characters. Both are clearly grieving in their own way. Even still, it’s hard to look at her character and think, “man she’s just too repressed, she needs to be out drinking and dancing.” She’s already doing all that the whole movie and nearly kills herself three different times.
I don’t want to paint too negative of a picture though. Footloose is still a pretty good time. There are some really great musical moments. The opening and ending dance numbers are great. Kevin Bacon’s solo dance in the warehouse and the “Lets Hear it for the Boy” montage are also both fantastic. Props to all the actors and choreographers for putting together some amazing performances. Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Penn put in some very endearing supporting character work as well.
Like a lot of movies I think Footloose struggles more in its second half. The conflict escalates very abruptly when out of nowhere someone throws a brick through a window in Ren’s house. He also has a totally unnecessary fist fight with Ariel’s ex-boyfriend at the end. One thing in particular that rubbed me the wrong way was when Ren has to make a speech to the town council to argue for the high school dance. Ariel gives him a set of Bible verses that support dance and music and Ren reads these to Shaw to try to make him change his mind.
It is literally this exact liberal meme. At no point in the film is Ren shown to be a practicing Christian. He has no idea what the verses selected for him even mean, yet he sees it as appropriate to lecture Reverend Shaw, a man who has dedicated his entire life to the faith, on how to be a proper Christian. If ever there were a moment where I wanted Shaw to go full villain mode and blow up at Ren it was right here. Yet again he just listens respectfully. Would that Ren had made his case more honestly by leaning into the preacher’s belief in compassion and trusting people, instead of this lame theological Uno reverse card.
I had fun with Footloose. It’s an enduring film for good reason. The music and dance still hold up. Kevin Bacon is a delight on screen and several moments will have you smiling. Still my issue with several story elements undermine my desire to rewatch it from start to finish. The conflict between Ren and Shaw felt muddled and unsatisfying at best and insulting at worst. I really wanted to get behind one of them but just couldn’t. Still I’d say overall this is worth a watch.
Grade: B
