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Although it may be the seventh highest grossing film of 1984, Herbert Ross’ Film “Footloose,” starring Kevin Bacon as rebellious teen Ren McCormack, has lost its “great movie” status over time, resorting to emanating time capsule vibes as it showcases everything the 80’s had to offer.
The film strongly captures the many iconic moments of 80’s history, with overdramatic high schoolers, fabulously neon fast food joints (obviously equipped with rollerblading waitresses), exceedingly good fashion, and naturally, a killer soundtrack. Songs like, “Holding Out For a Hero” (Bonnie Tyler), “Let’s Here it For The Boy” (Deniece Williams), and of course, “Footloose” (Kenny Loggins), make each scene feel lively and powerful, luckily hiding some of the acting the film exaggerates.
Characters who would expectedly act with logic, somehow find the most edgy teen ways to do normal things, as if the writers just wanted to make cheap plot points. For instance, when Ariel Moore (Lori Singer) thinks it’s funny to stand in between two cars on a two way street, almost killing her friends and scaring them half to death when a truck comes towards them, simply adding a dramatic “oh no what’s gonna happen” kind of moment. Basically making the film disassociate Moore from reality and remove all of her relatability because she has to act like a psycho in this scene.
Added with Bacon’s performance of the protagonist, who is supposed to be 17 years old compared to the actor being 24 at the time of filming, the pair get along fairly well as they destroy any reality “Footloose” could possibly have for its one hour and 47-minute run time.
Even though the film’s acting is odd, to say the least, it’s easy to forget when you’re jamming out to Bonnie Tyler or reminiscing about the good old days of ‘84. With a little work on the story telling, the film could have been truly great, but as it stands I would give “Footloose” a 3.0📼 out of 5.0📼 and suggest the film to anybody who loves the 80s but not so much for those looking for incredibly compelling direction.
