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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

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The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Footloose (Film)

by Erin Free | October 05, 2011 13:34 | Edited October 06, 2011 12:17

It may adhere to the original a little too closely, but this remake is still an immensely enjoyable ride boosted by Craig Brewer’s pitch-perfect musical instincts.

The first obvious question is, "Do we really need a remake of Footloose?" The equally obvious answer is, "No", but then again, do we really need remakes of anything? It's almost an argument not worth having. Hollywood is remake-crazy right now, and there's not much that we can do about it except hope that the remakes that do get released are at least enjoyable. Enter Footloose. Although soulful, music-loving director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan) doesn't do anything all that new or particularly contemporary (does the introduction of iPods count?) with his take on Herbert Ross' effervescent 1984 favourite. He does, however, deliver an enjoyable, energised and entertaining flick that treats its source material with a lot of respect...maybe even too much.

 

The plot is exactly the same, with a few narrative shifts the only real difference. Boston boy Ren McCormack (dancer turned actor Kenny Wormald) arrives in the small town of Bomont to live with his uncle and aunt after the death of his mother. He finds a new friend in funny, big hearted football player, Willard (Rabbit Hole star-on-the-rise, Miles Teller); a new crush in bad girl, Ariel (Julianne Hough, a dead-set swap for Leprechaun-era Jennifer Aniston); and a new nemesis in Ariel's dad, Reverend Moore (Dennis Quaid), the man largely responsible for banning dancing, loud music and "lascivious behaviour" in the town after a party-related car accident claimed several of Bomont's best-and-brightest, including his teenage son. It's up to rebel Ren to put the boogie back on Bomont's cultural agenda.

 

In his last two films, Brewer created a wonderfully vivid sense of southern funk, where you could practically feel the heat rising off the screen, while the perfectly chosen music stoked it up even more. He applies that gritty, smoky feel to Footloose too, and it works wonders. Brewer also sticks to the original's dramatic beats, following the story like an obsessive stalker, and making the big decision not to use the film's plot to make any kind of comment on religious conservatism in America today. His choice of music is rock-solid (an angry Ren exorcising his inner demons by thrashing around to The White Stripes' "Catch Hell Blues" is a highlight, while the introduction of krumping and other dance styles into the mix certainly ups the energy levels) and, for the most part, his casting decisions are sound. Leads Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are stiff and one note, and at times even curiously unsympathetic, but Miles Teller is wonderfully charming and funny as Willard, and veteran character actors Ray McKinnon (Sons Of Anarchy, Deadwood) and Kim Dickens (Treme, Friday Night Lights) are terrific as Ren's good-guy uncle and sweet-as-honey aunt, respectively.

 

Is Footloose better than the original? Of course not. It's nigh impossible to better something that comes packaged with years of nostalgia and audience-applied history, but that said, Craig Brewer's Footloose still makes for an attractive new dance partner.