Footloose

I saw Footloose the first weekend it was released. It took me this long to gather my thoughts and post about it, because I wasn't sure.

I wanted to love it, really I did. I love the original, and when I learned the casting for the remake it sounded great. I love Julianne Hough. But sadly, I was a little disappointed. The music was great. The dancing was great. However...

I'm always okay with an unknown, I mean that's where Kevin Bacon came from. But Kevin Bacon was hot. And sexy. And played a teen who came off as rebellious, but was good inside. Kenny Wormald played the same character, Ren McCormack, but less believably. He's a great dancer.

Julianne Hough is as cute as a button. A great dancer. A tiny little voice. Did I say cute? She couldn't hold a candle to Lori Singer's rebellious Ariel Moore. Even speaking the same lines, she was unconvincing as a tough as nails, almost obnoxious teen with serious issues.

And speaking of being a great dancer, I expected the writer/director to showcase Julianne's mad dancing skills. Disappointingly, they did not. She danced in the midst of all the others, and the spotlight dances were Kenny's. They did however show her in a lot of revealing short shorts and midriff shirts. I loved that she wore a dress almost identical to Lori Singer's to the prom.

I was disappointed with the language. Granted it got a PG-13 rating, but the script doesn't need the language to be powerful or entertaining.

Dennis Quaid did an excellent job with the part of the reverend, as could be expected.
The casting of Miles Teller in the late Chris Penn's role of Willard was the one brilliant choice in the whole movie.

Overall, I can't say I didn't enjoy it, because who can not get caught up in that music and the dancing? But I can watch the 1984 version with more enthusiasm - and I will.