Footloose (1984)

Director:

Herbert Ross

Writer:

Dean Pitchford (written by)

Release Date:

17 February 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

One kid. One town. One chance.

Plot:

A city boy comes to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned.

Plot Keywords:

Dancing | Small Town | Teenager | Prom | Dance

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Kevin Bacon	...	Ren McCormack
Lori Singer	...	Ariel Moore
John Lithgow	...	Reverend Shaw Moore
Dianne Wiest	...	Vi Moore
Chris Penn	...	Willard Hewitt (as Christopher Penn)
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Rusty
John Laughlin	...	Woody
Elizabeth Gorcey	...	Wendy Jo
Frances Lee McCain	...	Ethel McCormack
Jim Youngs	...	Chuck Cranston
Douglas Dirkson	...	Burlington Cranston
Lynne Marta	...	Lulu Warnicker
Arthur Rosenberg	...	Wes Warnicker
Timothy Scott	...	Andy Beamis
Alan Haufrect	...	Coach Roger Dunbar

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 | USA:PG (re-rating) (1983) | USA:R (original rating) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2007) | UK:PG (cinema rating) (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

American Fork, Utah, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The movie was loosely based on events that took place in the tiny, rural Oklahoma farming community of Elmore City.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ren and Ariel kiss for the first time, their arms switch positions numerous times between shots.

Quotes:

Willard: Hey, I came with this girl.
Fat Cowboy: Well it doesn't look like you're leaving with her.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Veronica Mars: There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill (#3.12)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Footloose

Guaranteed to lift you up

A film of enormous charm. It's about dancing but unlike many films about dancing it doesn't take itself seriously. It's loose-limbed and goofy and it lifts you up. It's set in a high school in a small mid-western town where dancing has been banned; (it reminds me of a joke I heard here in Ulster; 'Why do Free Presbyterians disapprove of making love standing up?' 'It might lead to dancing').

Kevin Bacon is the new kid in town who wants the ban lifted. Indeed, this boy seems to live to dance and he's immensely likable. He uses his killer smile to great effect. In this movie the dancing is integral to the plot and it evolves from it naturally and, for once, the director Herbert Ross takes things easy. As well as Bacon, the film has Lori Singer, (the obligatory love interest), and John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest as her parents. He's the bible-thumper who thinks that dancing is sinful and Wiest, with her wan, other-worldly smile, is the wife who doesn't as well as a very young Chris Penn as the over-weight farm boy Bacon teaches to dance in a wonderful sequence choreographed to Denise Williams' 'Let's hear it for the boy'