FOOTLOOSE
3 out of 5 stars

“i’m turning it LOOSE!!!”

the 1984 cult classic, which launched kevin bacon into stardom, gets revamped and the results are...satisfying. it would never out-do the original, but this one is good enough for 2011, i think... if ONLY kevin bacon had decided to star as 2011’s ren’s dead-beat dad. then, this movie would have been SOLID. maaaaaaan... :P

anyway, this movie starts out with a high school barn dance party in bomont, GA, where everyone is dancing and having a blast. it’s some HS senior party, and five kids get into a car to head home. while they’re car dancing and listening to “footloose”, the driver kisses his girl, then they crash into a semi... as it turns out, the driver was rev. moore’s son bobby, and the whole town of bomont is devestated by this tragedy. consequently, the city council decides to outlaw public dancing, and it’s been the law ever since. FF to 3 years later... cityboy and boston native (they changed it this time) ren mccormack (newbie kenny wormald) arrives in bomont. his mother died from leukemia, so his uncle wesley decided to take him in. his uncle even gives ren the trademark yellow VW beetle, and ren fixes her up in no time! ren even goes to church on sundays with his uncle, and meets the beautiful ariel (julianne hough- DWTS’s derek hough’s lil sis), rev. moore’s daughter. ariel has turned into a wild child ever since her brother’s death by getting involved with this hick-ass race car driver named chuck and even gets caught dancing at the snack bar afterhours with ren. ren doesn’t understand why dancing is banned in this town, so he decides to change things for the senior class of bomont high. but not before teaching willard how to dance, dancing his heart out at the warehouse, and hosting prom night at the cotton gin he works at... ;)

like i said, this version would never outdo the original, but it had some good revamped moments. my two fave scenes: when the kids go dancing at some city cowboy bar and country line dance their hearts out AND the infamous prom night dance sequence. both kenny and julianne are great dancers, but leave it to the class of 1984 to show you TRUE dancing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0JBSLO_O14

;)