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Taking a deeper look at current and past films and how they relate to the world today.

Jonathan Kim is an independent film critic who writes and produces film reviews for Uprising and other outlets. He is a former co-producer at Brave New Films.

Read his reviews online at ReThinkReviews.net. Watch his videos at www.youtube.com/user/jsjkim, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReThinkReviews. ReThink Reviews’ theme song is by Restavrant.

Footloose

So there’s a remake of the film ‘Footloose’. While I remember and still enjoy the titular pop single by Kenny Loggins, I’ve never seen the 1984 original movie, which starred Kevin Bacon as a dancing city kid in an anti-dancing small town. So my objections to the remake weren’t based on nostalgia, but on Hollywood’s horrible record of remaking movies and TV shows, as well as the implicit admission that there are apparently no more original ideas. But the new ‘Footloose’ is actually a really nice movie that not only avoids feeling dated, but actually might work better now than when it came out in 1984.

You probably know the story. ‘Footloose’ is about a troubled teen with a dance and gymnastics background named Ren MacCormack, played in the new version by professional dancer Kenny Wormald, who moves from Boston to the conservative town of Bomont, Georgia after his mother dies of cancer. Three years prior, Bomont experienced a tragedy when a carful of high school seniors was killed coming home from an unauthorized dance. And in a spasm of grief and shock, the town, led by its minister (played by Dennis Quaid) voted to protect their children from the corrupting dangers of sin and modern culture by passing restrictive laws on the town’s youth, including bans on loud music and public dancing.

Ren, some new friends, and the minister’s rebellious daughter Ariel (played by Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough), set out to challenge and eventually overturn the dancing ban, thus reaffirming that kids should be allowed to have some fun before they’re lives are inevitably crushed by the weight of adult responsibility.

When I first heard about ‘Footloose’ in 1984, the idea of a town that outlawed dancing seemed silly, even back then. But sadly, it’s much easier to imagine that kind of thing happening in America now. In the wake of several school shootings, harsh zero-tolerance policies have been implemented throughout America’s schools, complete with armed cops, metal detectors, and surveillance cameras, so I think kids today understand the dangers of overreacting to tragedy. And as conservatives have increasingly tried to demolish the wall between church and state, the religious overtones of Bomont’s laws might also feel familiar.

Which brings me to one of the great things about ‘Footloose’. That Ren, the film’s star, is quite clearly an atheist. He shows no respect for religion, is outraged by the religious overtones of Bomont’s anti-youth laws, and only cites the Bible to show that Bomont’s moralizing Christians are hypocrites who haven’t actually read the bible.

‘Footloose’ also isn’t a film that portrays urban denizens as snooty, shallow, secretly unhappy people who need a dose of country for some humility and to remind them what life is REALLY about. Ren has traveled the world with his gymnastics team and been exposed to a lot of things growing up in Boston that you don’t get in Bomont, and he doesn’t apologize for it. Nor should he, since a lot of our nation’s best stuff comes from our cities, whether it’s culture, diversity or progressive ideas about civil rights and social justice, and I’m glad there’s a movie for young people that says that having a wider perspective on the world can actually be a good thing.

‘Footloose’ is by no means a perfect movie. It’s about 10 minutes too long, and Andie MacDowell is terrible as the minister’s wife, another reminder that she’s rarely good in anything. But first-time actors Wormald and Hough are unexpectedly good, and watching them dance for real in long takes is fun to watch. There are some strong performances — particular Quaid and Miles Teller as Willard, Ren’s new country boy buddy — and the cast is much more diverse, compared to the nearly all-white original.

While I’m not the one to compare the 2011 ‘Footloose’ with the original, I can tell you that the new version does a great job of standing on its own dancing feet.

‘Footloose’ is rated PG-13 and is in theaters now.