"Footloose" 2011

“Footloose”

I know. I went to see the new “Footloose”. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know my love for the original and for Kevin Bacon. I believe he is a great underrated actor.

It wasn’t….bad.

It was obvious the team that made it loved the original. It wasn’t a frame by frame remake but there was no doubt about the blueprint. I am going to list some of the things that bugged me.

“I Need A Hero” is not a slow song. It is a hearty and throaty ballad that demands. It isn’t a little quiet song that sounds like something an “American Idol” contestant would do to make the song “their own“.

They start with background, which the original didn’t. We see the accident that caused all the trouble and the aftermath. Then it shoots forward three years. We see Ariel when she was still sweet and innocent. I think it is supposed to make us understand her rebellion. But Julianne Hough just seems flirty, not broken.

I think that is the part that bugs me the most. The Moore family doesn’t seem broken.

John Lithgow portrays the character as a man that has turned to God to try to deal with his pain. You see all sides of him. He isn’t blinded by his grief but channeling it into what he believes will take care of his flock. You see him helping out at Sunday school, speaking out against burning books. He is working so hard to keep his own emotions at bay that he can’t see the pain those around him are in. He has built a wall around his heart and works at careful control. Having a daughter express herself by going out of control shakes him and leaves him reinforcing that wall and waiting for the worst to happen.

Dennis Quaid portrays a man whose faith is shaken and can’t see beyond his own pain. But there is no tension, no sense that he is truly struggling. You never really see him outside of his role as a community leader.

Dianne Wiest is incredible as Vi. She is a woman that is scared and deeply scarred. Scared of life. A little scared of her husband. Scarred by the loss of her child. She knows what her daughter is doing and though it frightens her, she is accepting.

Andie MacDowell doesn’t share that energy. In the original when Vi Moore speaks up so that Ren can speak it is shocking and you sense the courage it took for her to stand up. When Andie stands up it doesn’t have the same impact.

Julianne Hough is less harsh than Lori Singer. And thankfully not as painfully skinny. But it make the line about “wrapping those skinny legs” sound stupid. Julianne Hough is definitely curvy. Her rebellion isn’t as dramatic. I know Lori Singer overacted her ass off in the original, but her anger made sense. Her parents were so closed off she needed to express as much emotion as possible. It didn’t matter if it was positive or negative.

The scene with the train dodge was about feeling something, anything. In the remake I think it was about getting Ren to jump her.

Speaking of Ren. This is where the big changes happened.

First of all this kid looked eerily like a young Johnny Depp and was doing his best Mark Wahlberg Boston accent.

Instead of a desperate mother and son moving in with judgmental relatives, we have a grieving orphan moving in with the most understanding uncle and family in Bomont. The uncle isn’t yelling at Ren, he is defending him and giving him a car.
That is WRONG! Ren was misunderstood on all sides! That is why he has to dance so angry!

Speaking of the angry dance in the remake. It wasn’t bad but it was wrong.

You can’t angry dance without angry smoking.

You can’t angry drink from a CAN!!! You need a bottle to smash dramatically. Crushing a can isn’t the same.

The dancing in the new one is very…professional.

Ren isn’t scared going up against the city council with his bid for a removal of the dance ban. He is like a trained litigator. His confidence is important but needs the humility that Kevin expresses.

I think the main difference is that they tried to make Ren broken. He is coming with the grief of losing his mother. That isn’t in the original. Ren wasn’t there for the tragedy and doesn’t see the reasons behind it. He is young and just wants the simple joy of being young and dancing with his friends.

By making him an orphan, it loses that. I didn’t buy his reasons for wanting the dance. When he talks about losing his mother and connects with Reverend Moore it rings false.

There were a lot of women my age in the theater. And on the way home I was singing “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”.

But my heart didn’t leap with joy when they finally have the dance. It didn’t break when Vi confronts her husband. And the angry dance isn’t about letting off some steam.

It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t “Footloose”.