Footloose

Revisiting 1984's FOOTLOOSE, two things struck me. First, it holds up a lot better than "Flashdance" which was released the previous year. That movie, with Jennifer Beals' leg warmer-bundled welder by day/dancer by night has aged into a very moldy mess.

Second, the cast, led by Kevin Bacon in his first lead big-screen role, is excellent from top to bottom.

Bacon stars as Ren, recently arrived to a very small town from the "big city"of Chicago with his Mom (Frances Lee McCain from "Gremlins").

The town is under the suppressive thumb of Reverend Moore, played to the fire & brimstone hilt by John Lithgow. After a tragic accident in the town took the life of several teenagers including Moore's son, he and the town council have outlawed dancing.

My memory of the film was that it quickly fell into a "what in tarnation are these kids gonna do if they ain't allowed to dance!?" mode, but seeing it again, I was surprised with the balance of humor, fun and emotional drama.

Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters, Edward Scissorhands) plays Moore's long suffering wife. As she watches him alienate their rebellious teenage daughter Ariel (the surprisingly good Lori Singer) the film takes an unexpected turn into grief and its impact on a family.

Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs) is a lot of fun as Willard, the local kid who befriends Ren and can't dance a lick. Sarah Jessica Parker (Honeymoon in Vegas) is Willard's girlfriend and Ariel's best friend.

Are there goofy moments that we both probably remember? Sure.

When Ren gets pissed off, he drives to a huge barn where he suddenly becomes an Olympic gymnast, dancing and spinning off of parallel bars until he seems to fly through the air. It's pure 80's.

But the film struck me the same way that "Urban Cowboy" did some 40 years after its release. It's much darker than I remembered. Ariel seems to have a true death wish as her coping mechanism for the loss of her brother. An upset boyfriend punches and slaps his girlfriend.

Reverend Moore takes a surprising stance on book burning, fueling some terrific scenes by LIthgow. You can feel him wrestling with his beliefs and the obvious negative impact they are having on the town. Anytime Lithgow and Wiest are on screen together, the film rises to another level. Her whispered line "I never stopped" is flawless.

Director Herbert Ross has made some very good films, including "The Goodbye Girl" and "The Last of Shiela". He finds a way to bring all the pieces together for a memorable dramatic ending and then balances that with the fun five-minute dance sequence to Kenny Loggins title song that still rings in all our ears.

The1984 soundtrack (released back in the VERY early days of CDs, remember those kids?) featured "Holding Out for a Hero", "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Almost Paradise"to name just a few. The soundtrack hit #1 for over two months and sold over 9 million copies in the US alone!

The film did 10X its $8 million cost at the box office.

Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Rob Lowe were all considered for Ren before Kevin Bacon got the part. He's effortless in the role. Bacon has admitted in recent years that he had five different dance doubles during filming, which has driven him to tip DJs at weddings NOT to play "Footloose" for nearly 40 years.

FOOTLOOSE is a throwback that still plays very well today, a music-packed, nostalgic trip back to 1984. Bacon and company get a B.

(Footloose was remade in 2011, a pale imitation that was so lightweight I doubt anyone has thought of its since.)