FOOTLOOSE: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Paramount, 1984) Paramount Home Video
In reassessing
director, Herbert Ross’ 1984 coming-of-age classic, Footloose, I am
strangely reminded of a euphemism from the Archie Bunker household; something
about, if God had intended white people to dance with colored people, he would
have given us rhythm too! All evidence to the contrary as some very gifted
actors strut and celebrate to the beat of Kenny Loggins’ runaway title track. Footloose,
of course, relays the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a Chicago teen
transplanted to the cornfed mid-west where he promptly runs afoul of the
local dance-ban ordinance instituted by a stuffed-shirt minister, Rev. Shaw
Moore (John Lithgow). While critics were indifferent, or all but immune to this
rather pedestrian ‘feel good’, teens and twenty-somethings flocked to see it,
making Footloose a massive bell-ringer at the box office. $80 million in
North America alone. This made Footloose the 7th highest
grossing movie of the year. In addition to Loggins aforementioned rock/pop
toe-tapper, fellow bopper, Deniece Williams had an Oscar-nominated smash with ‘Let’s
Hear It For the Boy’. Difficult to assess a picture solely by its critical
reception. If only to reflect on these chestnuts for cultural importance – or lack
thereof, Footloose is either a ‘seriously confused’ teen bash, doing
everything ‘badly’ or total trash masquerading as teen-empowered pop-u-magic
that gave then fledgling actor, Kevin Bacon his toehold in Hollywood as its “smooth-cheeked,
pug-nosed” heartthrob.
Retrospectively,
however, Footloose has held up spectacularly well, despite its obvious ‘camp.’
It's not a drama. Nor a comedy altogether. And not even a musical, despite its
jet-propelled/hit packed soundtrack. This affords Bacon only a singular solo to
shake his tight-jeaned junk in a barn. Footloose
was the brainchild of Oscar-winning lyricist, Dean Pitchford and originally
pitched to Daniel Melnick’s indie company, having a distribution deal with 2oth
Century-Fox. Pitchford wrote the screenplay – his first, as well as most of the
lyrics. Alas, the exec’ brain trust at Fox balked. Mercifully, Paramount
Pictures came to the table with a pay-or-play deal. But Herbert Ross – always the
first choice to direct - nearly passed on the option, giving second pick, Ron
Howard, a moment’s pause to reconsider Footloose as well. Howard instead
chose to direct Splash. So, Paramount approached Michael Cimino, whose
debacle on the costly Heaven’s Gate (1980) ought to have left him out in
the cold to ever direct a feature again. Nevertheless, Cimino proved his own
worst enemy, demanding an additional $250,000. Paramount fired him instead and
went back to the negotiation table with Ross.
Before Kevin
Bacon, Paramount toyed with Tom Cruise or Rob Lowe to star. Each had already
established their teen heartthrob status at the box office, especially Cruise,
whose tidy-white moves in Risky Business (1983) had left young girls
panting in the isles. Cruise, alas, was already well into his contract for All
the Right Moves. As for Lowe, though he limbered with the sexual audacity
of a male stripper, an injury prevented him from partaking. A dark horse among
the pack: Christopher ‘Blue Lagoon’ Atkins – who has always held
to the reality he was hired for the lead, only to be supplanted when the
studio decided to run with Bacon instead. As for Bacon, he was set to appear in
Christine (1983) but decided to gamble on a screen test for Footloose
instead. The test was mediocre, but Bacon’s appearance in Diner (1982), also
screened for studio heads, illustrated he had a lot more to offer. As a curious
aside, John Stockwell, who replaced Bacon in Christine is remarkably
Bacon-esque in both appearance and demeanor. For the role of Rev. Moore’s
forthright daughter, Ariel, the studio went with Lori Singer, after turning
down the likes of pop diva, Madonna, Haviland Morris, Valerie Bertinelli and
Jennifer Jason Leigh. Singer, however, bore a striking resemblance to Darryl
Hannah. And she could also, and quite ‘literally’, claim Fame as her
calling card, having appeared on the hit TV series (based on the 1980 movie),
for its first 2 seasons before accepting this part – only her second movie role
to date.
Footloose is very loosely
based on incidents that occurred in Elmore City, Oklahoma - a town to have
banned dancing as its town council perceived shaking one’s booty as a precursor
to the abuse of strong drink. Yeah. And dark sunglasses and trench coats are
responsible for young boys leering at Playboy. But I digress. Rev. Moore was inspired
by Rev. Hennepin, F. R. Johnson who staunchly opposed dancing, claiming, “No
good has ever come from a dance. If you have a dance somebody will crash it and
they'll be looking for only two things—women and booze. When boys and girls
hold each other, they get sexually aroused. You can believe what you want, but
one thing leads to another.” Hmmm. The same can be said of haylofts and the
backseats of cars. Burn down the barns? Remove the spark plugs on a Saturday
night? I think not! But again…I digress. Because of this absurd prohibition, Elmore’s
high school was not allowed to host a prom. But then, in February 1980, Elmore’s
junior class made national headlines when they petitioned to host a junior
prom. School counsel balked in a 2–2 decision tie. But this was eventually
broken by a chagrined school board president, Raymond Lee, who declared, “Let
'em dance.”
Naturally,
Pritchard’s screenplay takes artistic liberties with this reality. Hence, Footloose
tells the tale of Chicago teen, Ren McCormack and his single mom, Ethel
(Francis Lee McCain). The pair moves to
Bomont to live with Ren's aunt, Lulu (Lynne Marta) and uncle, Wes Warnicker (Arthur
Rosenberg). While attending church, Ren is introduced to the stringent,
Reverend Shaw Moore, his less-so wife, Vi (Dianne Weist), and their daughter,
Ariel, who is defiant and behaves irresponsibly. Ren also befriends fellow high
school student, Willard Hewitt (Chris Penn). Having learned of the town-wide
ban on dance and rock music, Ren falls madly for Ariel instead. Too bad, she
already has a fella: corn-fed toughie, Chuck Cranston (Jim Youngs) who
challenges Ren to a game of chicken with tractors. Despite his
fish-out-of-water status, Ren wins. Alas, this only proves to Rev. Moore, Ren
is the wrong sort to squire his daughter. Nevertheless, Ren drives Willard,
Ariel, and her flighty friend, Rusty (Sarah Jessica Parker) to a country bar in
the neighboring town to go dancing. Possessing two left feet, Willard becomes
incensed when a barfly asks Rusty to take a spin around the dance floor.
Predictably, a fight breaks out. On the drive home, Ariel confides how her elder
brother died in a horrific car wreck, owing to a night’s carousing. Recovering
from their familial grief, Rev. Moore was persuasive in getting town council to
enact an anti-liquor, drug, and dance law. Compassionate to a point, Ren does
not equate dancing directly to the other vices and thus, begins to challenge
the anti-dance/rock ordinance so their high school can host its first senior
prom.
Willard fears
being embarrassed again. So, Ren offers to teach him how to dance. Meanwhile,
Chuck and Ariel end their romance over Ren. Chuck is abusive and violent. But
Ren helps Ariel get cleaned up before going home to her father. On the home
front, a night raid on Ren’s uncle’s house causes Wes to admonish Ren for his
outspokenness. There were never any problems until Ren and Ethel came to town.
But Ethel, despite having been let go from her job precisely because of Ren’s
determination and petitioning, now encourages her son to remain steadfast in
his beliefs. Principles are always worth the fight. With Ariel’s support too,
Ren enters the lion’s den – or rather, town council, advocating for an end to
the dance ban. He cites scripture, referencing dance as a way to rejoice,
exercise, and celebrate. In fact, Rev. Moore is deeply moved by Ren’s
eloquence. Alas, council is not. Ren’s proposal is voted down. Vi steps in,
suggesting to her husband he cannot be everyone’s father, and should, in fact, start
concentrating more on being a good one to his own daughter. Moore’s heart,
however, is once more hardened. But the next afternoon, he witnesses members of
his congregation burning library books they claim are corrupting the youth. Recognizing
the grotesque similarities in their arguments, Moore is ashamed. He chastises
the book-burners who retreat to their respective homes. On Sunday, Moore implores
his congregation to pray for the students who have decided to put on their prom
at a grain mill just yards beyond Bomont's jurisdiction. Moore and Vi attend,
but remain a respectful distance, allowing the teens to just be themselves. Chuck
and a brood of angry guys attempt to beat up Willard. But Ren puts a period to
the fight, knocking out Chuck, before returning to party the night away.
Footloose is such an infectiously
silly, if rock-solid ‘feel good’ it is impossible to overlook its fancifully
scripted charm. With this pic, Kevin Bacon proved he could carry a leading
role. It really is a break-out performance. Bacon pulls out all the stops as a
congenial, yet unreservedly determined young buck, affecting the change he
seeks to find in the world. Lori Singer’s performance is comparatively watered
down and forgettable. It was only passable in 1984. The supporting cast isn’t
really iconic either. Then again, Pritchard’s screenplay doesn’t allow for any
stand-out moments. Arguably, this is what critics chastised in 1984 – the lack
of individuality among the youngsters. They are present and accounted for, and
yet, hardly more evolved than their tight-fitted jeans and cutoff tees allow. The
adult roles are mostly stock and spare. Does anyone really care about the book-burners?
Ditto for Ren’s curmudgeonly uncle Wes? The only prominent in the over-thirty
crowd is John Lithgow, whose empathetic conversion from embittered man-of-the-cloth
to empowered father is truly heartfelt. Dianne Weist makes for a nice
appendage.
Footloose arrives in
native 4K from Paramount Home Video. Alas, something is remiss. While not quite
the disaster of Paramount’s 4K release of Planes, Trains and Automobiles,
standards on Footloose have decidedly derailed and veer well off the
mark for what should be considered video mastering/grading a la 2024. Why? You’d
have to ask someone on the mountain. This does not appear to have been sourced
from an original camera negative. Again, why? Surely, one exists. And Ric Waite's original cinematography was never this soft. So, how does
it actually look, setting hyperbole and disappoints aside. Average, at best.
Colors are solid but lack the pop of a native 4K release. From the outset, the
picture exhibits a softer than anticipated appearance. The Paramount logo looks
atrocious. Main titles possess amplified grain. But the opticals are very
fuzzy.
Once we get past
the credits, things improve. But again, not up to native 4K standards.
Intermittently, scenes appear dull and soft, then crisp and a little more
refined. It’s as though someone suffering from either Tourette’s or epilepsy or
a combination of the two was allowed at the controls. Good. Bad. Bad. Good.
Duck season. Wabbit season. Shoot me now! You get the point. Uneven and
miserly of Paramount to skimp on one of its irrefutable gems from the eighties.
Why bother? The DTS 5.1 is also a huge letdown. While the pop tunes come to the
forefront, dialogue is muffled or anemic at best while SFX sport zero
spatiality. Virtually all the special
features here are ported over from older home video editions, given no further
consideration to stabilize image quality, and only included on the accompanying
Blu-ray in 480p. Bottom line: while hardly a classic, Footloose remains
a welcomed retrospective for many such as myself, reminding of a way of life
lost to us with the advent of the internet and the cell phone. Better times
before. Though hardly as well-represented in this 4K release. Again, why –
Paramount…why, indeed?!? Judge and buy accordingly.
FILM RATING (out
of 5 – 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
2.5
EXTRAS
1.5
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