Footloose

February 17th, 1984







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Footloose

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Still of Kevin Bacon and Chris Penn in FootlooseStill of John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest in FootlooseFootlooseStill of Kevin Bacon in FootlooseStill of Kevin Bacon in FootlooseFootloose

Plot
A city boy comes to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned.

Release Year: 1984

Rating: 6.1/10 (22,290 voted)

Director: Herbert Ross

Stars: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow

Storyline
Classic tale of teen rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can't quite believe he's living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is one small pleasure, however: Ariel, a troubled but lovely blonde with a jealous boyfriend. and a Bible-thumping minister, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner, but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople. Fast-paced drama is filled with such now-famous hit songs as the title track and "Let's Hear It for the Boy."

Cast:
Kevin Bacon - Ren McCormack
Lori Singer - Ariel Moore
John Lithgow - Reverend Shaw Moore
Dianne Wiest - Vi Moore
Chris Penn - Willard Hewitt (as Christopher Penn)
Sarah Jessica Parker - Rusty
John Laughlin - Woody
Elizabeth Gorcey - Wendy Jo
Frances Lee McCain - Ethel McCormack
Jim Youngs - Chuck Cranston
Douglas Dirkson - Burlington Cranston
Lynne Marta - Lulu Warnicker
Arthur Rosenberg - Wes Warnicker
Timothy Scott - Andy Beamis
Alan Haufrect - Coach Roger Dunbar

Taglines: He's a big-city kid in a small town. They said he'd never win. He knew he had to.

Release Date: 17 February 1984

Filming Locations: American Fork, Utah, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $8,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $8,556,935 (USA) (19 February 1984)

Gross: $80,035,402 (USA)



Technical Specs

Runtime:



Did You Know?

Trivia:
Lehi (named for a prophet described in the Book of Mormon) is the town where the Lehi Rollermills resides. The Lehi Rollermills is actually an old time grain house as depicted in the film and it's still (2010) operating in Utah. The film is often considered Lehi's claim to fame.

Goofs:
Continuity: When Ariel is making the switch from the car to Chuck's pickup and the tractor-trailer is headed for them, they are about to converge at a railroad crossing, but when they do meet, there is no railroad crossing to be seen.

Quotes:
Ren: Up on the roof, oh yeah. 100 proof, oh yeah. I'm feelin' fine, oh yeah. Drink cherry wine, oh yeah.



User Review

Unfair reputation.

Rating: 7/10

Prior to seeing this movie, all I had heard suggested that I was better off not watching it unless it was to ridicule. I looked at my uncle dancing round his living room to some of its music and asked myself if anybody expected me to take that seriously. It's got a place in movie history even for the title song alone, though, so I decided I couldn't live with myself unless I gave it a chance. It was definitely worth it.

The style is reminiscent of a whole host of other '80's teen flicks, but only a handful are better. Most of the cast do great things with their roles. Kevin Bacon actually manages to make the clichéd concept seem kinda cool, here showcasing an easy charm that was to become the hallmark of much of his later work. Crucially, the music is actually pretty good too! (Even if I am torn between wanting to cringe and dance when I hear the theme!)

On reflection it's no cheesier than something like "All the Right Moves" (which has a great cast doing their best but suffers from a plodding story) In fact, it's miles better! At least the music in "Footloose" gave the makers a viable way to pep things up whenever the story begins to flag. This film is much, MUCH better than I had been led to believe, so give it a chance if you ain't seen it yet but thought you knew the score. Chances are, you don't...





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