Footloose remake may be interesting.
It’s been a while since I heard any rumors of a Footloose remake, so I was a little surprised when I was poking around imdb.com and saw that the remake was already in post production. I really disliked the idea of a remake because most of the rumors I heard positioned the film as a Disney High School Musical type of film which just ruined it for me. The original was somewhat cheesy, but it was my cheesy from the 80′s…so to see it more or less cleaned and sanitized to attract the same audience as High School Musical held no attraction for me.
Footloose isn’t exactly high art from the 80′s either. It’s not iconic like Dirty Dancing or Ghost. It didn’t star Tom Cruise or the brat pack. It wasn’t directed by John Hughes. It doesn’t even have the kind of cult following Road House has. It is was a mid 1980′s stealth musical with a great soundtrack, a decent story and decent acting. It’s most notable for some of the actors like Kevin Bacon, Chris Penn and Sarah Jessica Parker who would go on to have interesting and successful acting careers.
That said–I loved this film when it came out and I played the soundtrack till the cassette wore out. Then I bought another one, and finally bought a copy on CD. Why I liked the film so much I don’t really know. There were some funny scenes, like Ren teaching Willard to dance. Some expressions of teen angst that I probably appreciated. Or maybe it was because although Ren was a pretty decent kid, he still had a little bit of rebellious streak and took out the bully. Or maybe it was because the music just sounded fantastic cranking out of Dolby Stereo speakers in the theaters at Chicago Ridge Mall.
As a general rule, I’m not a big fan of remakes. Simply, the remake isn’t going to be as good as the original. Although, Footloose didn’t pay attention to the details.
The music for one. Ren wouldn’t have been a big fan of the pop sound of all the original music for the film. With his 80′s new wave David Bowie type look it wouldn’t have been hip enough. Ren’s from Chicago, so in Chicago XRT would have been his radio station. Chuck Cranston wouldn’t have been a pop fan either. He probably would have cranked up the Blaze. And what about Country? In the rural setting of Footloose Country Music would definitely be popular.
Second, Willard couldn’t dance. The only reason Willard couldn’t dance in the movie was because Chris Penn couldn’t dance in real life so they wrote it into the movie. It did add a dance montage to the film, but honestly, would Willard really be for a school dance if he wasn’t a closet dancer? And really, the only time I “practiced” dancing was for my wedding. (Ok, yes, one high school girlfriend tried to teach me the nuances of The Twist), but with two left feet it was lost on me. That said, I still managed to dance quite a bit at school dances with two left feet and have fun.
Third, gymnastics? Gymnastics, Ren and Willard were gymnasts? I suppose that making Ren a gymnast can explain the scene where he’s all pissed off and dances in the warehouse swinging from cables and jumping around, but it seems like that was a long way to go to explain that. I would have assumed they’d play football, basketball, or even track and field. I don’t know. We had some gymnastic equipment at my high school, but I never saw it used.
I am nitpicking, I didn’t think about any of those things when I first saw the film, I just liked it. I think it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Willard can dance in this film. Will Ren be a gymnast again? Will they try to match the music more to the characters’ lifestyles?
What will be most interesting though will be seeing how they handle some of the darker moments of the film. Chuck Cranston really beats up Ariel in the original after she trashes his truck. Ren, Willard, Ariel and Rusty “go across state lines” to drink and dance at a club. Ren smokes and drinks after being hassled at school. Chuck Cranston and Ariel smoke weed in the woods before the tractor chicken race.
As a society we weren’t hyper conscious of a lot of these things in the mid 80′s. It was plausible that 18 year olds could drink and go into a club in some states in 1984. While teenage smoking was frowned upon, the inclusion of that in a film didn’t raise the ire of anti-smoking groups like it will now. Neither would the weed smoking. Although I think pot smoking would probably be easier to get away with today than a character smoking a Marlboro. I don’t know what to say about the domestic violence between Ariel and Chuck, that was pretty violent for a PG movie then and it’s a scene that’s always been hard for me to watch. It will be interesting to see how these issues are dealt with in the film.
Back when Zack Effron was cast as Ren, and there were rumors about Kenny Ortega, director of High School Musical, being involved I was sure all of those things would be cleaned and sanitized and we’d wind up with a sugary pop version of the film designed to appeal to 12 year olds and their parents sure not to offend.
However, Craig Brewer, who directed Hustle and Flow, Black Snake Moan and episodes of the Shield is set to direct. That makes me think it might not get sugar coated, perhaps, it might even get a more realistic portrayal of teenage life in 2011. At any rate, it’s intriguing enough to make me want to check out the remake. If that’s not enough, there’s some interesting casting as well. Julianne Hough as Ariel, who we KNOW can dance. Randy Quaid as the Rev. Shaw Moore and Andie MacDowell as Vi Moore. Of course, there’s also the music. Who will record “Footloose”? Will Lady Gaga or Katy Perry do a remake of “Holding Out For A Hero”? What mega duo will get to cover “Almost Paradise”?
I don’t know about you, but as a fan of the original I think I’ll slide into an early afternoon screening of the movie, when no one I know will see me, to check it out. I’m not expecting much, it’ll either be an entertaining couple of hours with a great sound track or I’ll be crying in my pop corn that they remade a movie that really, when you think about it, was better left as a somewhat dated but fun 80′s flick.
