Sunday, September 02, 2012

Footloose Fail

For the first time I dared to watch the newest version of Footloose, and man, was I disappointed. I don't know if it was my age, my adult view of the world, my cynicism, or the terrible script/acting/whatever, but I was really disappointed with the 2011 remake. Did this remake really do the first movie justice? If they trying to introduce this to a new generation, well, they didn't do a good job of it.

I'm not saying the original was perfect. Lori Singer left a little to be desired, the music was from the 80's (some folks, silly as they are, seem to mind that), and the concept itself is a little sideways. But the remake? The characters weren't well cast, and the music was not supportive of the general feel of the movie. Unless I missed something, there were some really flat parts of it, and while Julianna Hough was MUCH better than Lori Singer as far as being an actress, but one can live up to Kevin Bacon. I think that tainted me. The actor that played Willard wasn't big enough - Chris Penn was much larger than Kevin Bacon, so that worked better. The actress that played Rusty was cast because of her look, not her ability to play the role. Dianne Wiest seemed to show so much more angst than Andi McDowell in the role of Ariel's mom and the Reverend's wife, and I absolutely adore Andi McDowell, but I think she was mis-cast. And as much as I like Dennis Quaid, he doesn't hold a candle to John Lithgow. The scene that stuck out the most - the one that failed me and was the final straw - was the scene where the reverend was telling his congregation that they needed to keep the kids that were going to the dance in their prayers. It was totally flat. Some of it was the lack of music - the 1984 movie did a great job of setting the tone with the music. There was no build-up in that scene, and I was left waiting for something more. So, if you haven't seen the 2011 remake, and are a fan of the original, it's not a remake, so don't go in expecting a remake. It's probably entertaining if you didn't see the original, are a fan of Juliana Hough, or if you are a teenage girl, but for me it was just a little, well, it was eh.

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