Much was made in entertainment news of 2024 being the 40th anniversary of the release of "Footloose." There even were special reports from the Utah high school where much of the filming was done. Kevin Bacon even agreed to make an appearance at an event. So I found the DVD of the movie at my public library. My wife and I watched it last night, even enjoying the music we used to listen to.
Kevin Bacon is Ren who moves to this fictional mountainous community of Beaumont (not the one in Texas). He soon figures out the local preacher has influenced the townspeople that music and dancing are dangerous and bad so they have been banned. Except, of course, calming classical music that the preacher chooses to listen to. But Ren, a gymnast and a dancer, wants to change that.
As it turns out the preacher's daughter is Lori Singer as Ariel and she is the usual rebellious teenager, she has a hard time sticking to her dad's rules. She also wants to dance.
Her dad, the preacher, is played well by John Lithgow who it turns out was about 37 during filming but plays a 40-something man who has been married for 20+ years.
I suspect everyone knows, even those who haven't watched the whole movie, that there was in fact the restoration of "proper" dancing, Ren even used bible verses referencing dancing as part of his argument at the town meeting.
This is a good movie and now, a classic. I am surprised that its IMDb rating is rather low. It was also fun seeing Sean Penn's younger brother, Chris Penn, who unfortunately died young at 40. Also Sarah Jessica Parker, still a bubbly teenager during filming.
Kevin Bacon is Ren who moves to this fictional mountainous community of Beaumont (not the one in Texas). He soon figures out the local preacher has influenced the townspeople that music and dancing are dangerous and bad so they have been banned. Except, of course, calming classical music that the preacher chooses to listen to. But Ren, a gymnast and a dancer, wants to change that.
As it turns out the preacher's daughter is Lori Singer as Ariel and she is the usual rebellious teenager, she has a hard time sticking to her dad's rules. She also wants to dance.
Her dad, the preacher, is played well by John Lithgow who it turns out was about 37 during filming but plays a 40-something man who has been married for 20+ years.
I suspect everyone knows, even those who haven't watched the whole movie, that there was in fact the restoration of "proper" dancing, Ren even used bible verses referencing dancing as part of his argument at the town meeting.
This is a good movie and now, a classic. I am surprised that its IMDb rating is rather low. It was also fun seeing Sean Penn's younger brother, Chris Penn, who unfortunately died young at 40. Also Sarah Jessica Parker, still a bubbly teenager during filming.