Footloose

A version of this review appeared in The Age, October 6, 2011.

Fans of the original Footloose (1984) will be happy to know that Craig Brewer's remake has a similar high-energy credit sequence. You'll remember all those dancing feet in different types of shoes; what you won't remember is the subsequent twist where five teenagers die in a horrific car smash on their way home. At the urging of Reverend Shaw (Dennis Quaid) – father to one of the victims – the civic leaders of Bomont, Georgia enact a series of laws to keep their young people in line: no playing loud music, no staying out late, and no dancing except under close supervision. It's up to Ren (Kenny Wormald), newly arrived from Boston, to stand up for the rights of his generation while bringing the values of red and blue states together.

Converting a minor 1980s teen flick into an allegory about September 11 and the Patriot Act was a counter-intuitive move, one that only intermittently pays off. Brewer is committed to finding emotional truth in the hokey plot, but it's often a struggle, particularly when it comes to the romance between upstanding Ren and the reverend's hell-raising daughter Ariel (Juliette Hough). When this pair finally kiss, with the setting sun blazing between them, is it self-conscious pop art or just plain kitsch? In any case, the toothy Wormald has clearly been cast for reasons other than his acting ability, while Quaid, often an oppressive presence these days, seems more creepy than broken-hearted. The most promising of the younger performers is Miles Teller, recently seen in Rabbit Hole, as Ren's goofy best friend; his learning-to-dance montage is a comic highlight.