The movie screening I attended last night had people dancing in the aisles. How often does that happen?
When Kenny Loggins starts singing the theme to “Footloose,” it’s hard to stay in your seat. Caught the 1984 smash – for the first time! – at Red Rocks, Denver’s premiere concert venue. If you’ve seen the classic ’80s U2 concert held at the Colorado park, you know how gorgeous it is.
The crowd roared every time “Footloose” star Kevin Bacon smirked, or smiled, or broke out his dancing shoes. It was as if Justin Bieber had just posted a fresh youtube video. The crowd ranged in age, but most looked as if they weren’t old enough to have seen the movie in theaters 27 years ago.
The film critic in me noticed the movie was choppy in spots, and that last reel fight sequence felt like a shallow ploy to whip up our adrenaline. But Bacon sizzled, and when the glitter-drenched dance off commenced nothing else mattered.
But are audiences eager to get “Footloose” again?
It’s not surprising Hollywood is eager to find out. The upcoming reboot hopes to build on the nostalgia factor, and maybe catch the current zeitgeist whatever that may be. But are ticket buyers eager to swallow such a sappy story? Or see handsome teens break out into impromptu dances?
The crowd at last night’s “Footloose” screening enjoyed the film’s kitsch as much as its dancing. The ’80s fashions and uneven soundtrack were part of the fun. But we’re a more cynical society, one where the thought of people dancing out of the blue feels odd. We want edgier content, not the unexpurgated joy of watching a teen express himself in dance.
And, if the music chosen for the film isn’t just right, the whole enterprise may collapse. Who will cover the “Footloose” theme song? Who should?
The “High School Musical” films stand as the exception that proves the rule, and that franchise’s demographics skew pretty young. For a new “Footloose” to succeed it’ll have to draw in some 20- and 30-somethings, and maybe even a few older ticket buyers.
If not, you won’t see anybody dancing in the aisles when it makes its brief theatrical run later this year.
NOTE: An ex-reporter pal once wrote about a “Footloose” town where dancing was a no-no. It was the ’90s, but still …
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I saw a “sizzler” (a trailer cut for the crew in the middle of production to boost morale) of the new FOOTLOOSE prior to a special screening of Craig Brewer’s debut feature, THE POOR & HUNGRY (great movie if you can find it). My girlfriend, who is a huge fan of the original, was cynical about it until she saw the trailer and she got giddy and excited. I’ve never seen FOOTLOOSE, but the new one looks fantastic.
Good to hear. I really like Brewer. He’s a smart fellow who understands how music and film work together. But he’s working on a tough assignment remaking a cheeky classic.
Just watched for the umpteenth time a couple weeks ago and while that fight sequence at the end is rather lame, still dig this as much as when I saw it Memorial Day weekend, 1984. Church scene with Lithgow and Singer when she confesses her sins much more powerful, too. So, re-make/re-boot/whatever. We’ll always have the Bacon and Chris Penn at his goofiest this side of The Wild Life.
Also, how dare you call any soundtrack featuring Quiet Riot and the mighty Sammy Hagar’s “The Girl Gets Around” tin-eared? What’s that, Shalamar and Karla Bonoff are also on the soundtrack? OK, never mind the original question. Sammy still rocks, though, and “Almost Paradise” blows away Top Gun’s “Heaven in Your Eyes” in the power ballad department.
For every good song in the movie there’s a God awful one!
I really enjoyed Lithgow’s performance in the film. He’s known for his actorly excess, but he played this role in a very mature, even handed fashion. Bravo.
I’m just reminded of a line from Mike Nelson’s discussion of this movie: “a town whose citizenry think so little of themselves they let John Lithgow boss them around.”
Plus, sorry, the whole thing was agitprop against cultural conservatism, made during the heyday of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition. I guess painting Evangelicals as an American Taliban is much easier than rational discussion of the issues—see also Margaret Atwood’s
Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion“Handmaid’s Tale”.Well, CT, the soundtrack’s certainly no Vision Quest or Less Than Zero.