Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
by Herbert Ross
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chris Penn, Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow, Kevin Bacon, Lori SingerDirector: Herbert Ross
Brand: BACON,KEVIN
Cinematographer: Ric Waite
Editor: Paul Hirsch
Producer: Craig Zadan
Producer: Daniel Melnick
Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil
Writer: Dean Pitchford
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-28
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Collector's Edition; Color; Dolby; DVD; Special Edition; Subtitled; Wi
Movie Reviews of Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Captures the Heart and Soul of the MTV Generation
Summary: 5 Stars
Footloose is viewed with immense affection both by those who remember its original release and new fans alike. It actually deserves that high regard. On the surface, it would be easy to dismiss Footloose as "just another teen movie": Chicago teen Ren MacCormack (Kevin Bacon in his starmaker role) relocates to small-town Bomont (actually filmed in Provo, Utah). There he finds himself in conflict against a town ordnance forbidding public dancing, primarily in the person of Bomont's Baptist minister (John Lithgow). In the process, Ren romances the minister's daughter Ariel (Lori Singer), engages in a Rebel Without a Cause game of chicken with tractors instead of hotrods, and orchestrates the first high school dance Bomont's seen in years, along the way taking part in some pretty freakin' incredible dance numbers.
Not exactly Citizen Kane material, but elevating Footloose above what it might have been is (a) Dean Pitchford's script never condescends to the characters, (b) all the main characters are portrayed by talented actors investing them with believability and dignity, and (c) wonderful choreography.
Footloose came out just after MTV started up, and it was the right film at the right time, a very early instance of the symbiotic relationship between MTV and movies. To promote Footloose, use of MTV was key. Well before its theatrical release, songs from the soundtrack, the two biggies being Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" (of course) and Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It For the Boy" were cut as videos for MTV. This was one of the first times anyone ever used the idea of a soundtrack, and THE first time they used MTV videos of music from same, to really push a movie into being a major hit. It worked like gangbusters. The soundtrack put six songs into the Top Forty. By the time Footloose hit theaters there was already a nationwide awareness of it, of its music and dance scenes. Immense numbers of people wanted to see the film, and were already disposed to like it, because they loved the soundtrack and videos.
20-plus years later, Kevin Bacon's portrayal of Ren MacCormack is still the role with which he's most identified. Strangely enough, Paramount did not want him in the part. At this point in his career, Bacon was regarded as a character actor, best-known for playing Fenwick in Diner, a very quirky, unhappy young man. So the studio's view of Kevin Bacon was, "Yeah, great actor, but for supporting character roles, not possessed of the charisma of a leading man." (Boy, were they wrong.) Veteran director Herbert Ross was already attached to the project, and he believed in Kevin Bacon. That carried weight because Ross was very well-established, had already directed many, many actors to Academy Award winning performances, and said, "If Kevin Bacon doesn't get this role I'm walking off the film." Given how things turned out, Ross had to feel incredibly vindicated when Footloose was a smash hit, and because of it Kevin Bacon became a star.
As good as Kevin is as Ren, I have to single out John Lithgow as the Reverend Shaw Moore, Ariel's father and head of the anti-dancing fraternity, for special mention. It would have been so easy for the writer and director, and Lithgow, to portray Moore as the villain of the piece, a caricature, a stereotype, the narrow-minded, Bible thumbing, overbearing Baptist minister. Instead he's really the beating heart of the movie, a kind, decent man whose son died in a car crash several years before, and as a result he's become extremely protective and over-controlling of his daughter's life. This is something people can understand as a very human reaction, motivated by love even if it expresses itself badly. Lithgow's portrayal of Rev. Moore and the story of his troubled relationship with his daughter gave Footloose its crossover appeal, turning it from "just another teen movie" into something adults could watch and enjoy, as well.
Diane Wiest is excellent in the small but crucial role of Vi Moore, the Reverend's wife. Chris Penn is just amazingly good as Ren's new friend, Willard Hewitt. Some of the most indelible imagery in Footloose, what comes to mind first whenever I think of it, are the scenes where sophisticated, worldly-wise Ren takes awkward, small town Willand and teaches him to dance. Lori Singer is great as Ariel, the wild child who's sexy, angry, and sweet by turns. Really there are no slackers in this movie, every major role is filled by actors who totally inhabit their characters.
Not to put more weight on this piece of mass market entertainment than perhaps it can support, but at its heart Footloose does ask the question "What is moral behavior?" Is it unswerving adherence to a preset code of conduct, or do we have a moral responsibility to judge the status quo, and if our sense of morality says we must, rise up against it? Footloose is about people, in a small way, on a grass roots, real world level, fighting against oppression, a sort of spiritual/intellectual lockstep mentality.
So that's Footloose. A film that, once you start digging into it, is really one hell of a lot more than "just another teen movie." But in the course of doing all that impressive stuff, it never forgets how to entertain and have fun. The DVD has superb extras, including the original trailer; commentary tracks by Kevin Bacon, producer Craig Zadan and writer Dean Pitchford; and three "making of" featurettes. I would have liked to see the videos for "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It For the Boy" and the Kevin Bacon audition tape "cut like a rock video" mentioned in one of the featurettes (assuming it still exists) included as extras. Oh well, maybe in a future special edition. For now, Footloose is definitely a movie worth owning on DVD.
Summary of Footloose (Special Collector's Edition)
Footloose jumps with spirit, dazzling dance numbers and an electrifying musical score. It portrays the timeless struggle between innocent pleasure and rigid morality, when city-boy Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing has been banned. Ren revolts with best friend Willard (Chris Penn) and the minister's daughter (Lori Singer).A treasury of Top 10 songs: Kenny Loggins' "Footloose," Shalamar's "Dancing In The Sheets," Deniece Williams's "Let's Hear It For The Boy," Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for A Hero," and the Footloose love theme, "Almost Paradise."
Footloose jumps with spirit, dazzling dance numbers and an electrifying musical score. It portrays the timeless struggle between innocent pleasure and rigid morality, when city-boy Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) finds himself in an uptight Midwestern town where dancing has been banned. Ren revolts with best friend Willard (Chris Penn) and the minister's daughter (Lori Singer). A treasury of Top 10 songs-Kenny Loggins "Footloose," Shalamar "Dancing In The Sheets," Deniece Williams "Let's Hear It For The Boy," Bonnie Tyler "Holding Out for A Hero," and the Footloose love theme, "Almost Paradise."
Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) pulled a winning movie out of this almost self-consciously archetypal tale of teenage rock rebellion. Kevin Bacon stars as a hip city kid who ends up in a Bible-belt town after his parents divorce. An ill fit for a conservative community where rock is frowned upon and dancing is forbidden, Bacon's character rallies the kids and takes on the establishment. Between a good cast really embracing the drama of Dean Pitchford's screenplay, and Ross's imaginative, highly charged way of shooting the dance numbers, you can get lost in this all-ages confection, and you won't even mind Kenny Loggins's bubbly pop. Bonuses include one of John Lithgow's best performances (a bit reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart), and Christopher Penn (who sure doesn't look the same anymore) as a good-natured hick who learns to boogie. --Tom Keogh
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