Footloose

I watched this film last night and it was fairly enjoyable, though not nearly as good as I was expecting. The story involves Ren McCormack (newcomer Ken Wormald) from the city who arrives in the sad southern town of Bomont. Three years before, Bomont experienced a great tragedy, five young people were killed in a tragic car accident coming home from a dance. So underage dancing was banned in the town, along with many other activities that should already have been illegal, including underage drinking. Ren has arrived in Bomont because of his mother's untimely death from cancer. He is living with his kind car salesman uncle Wes, his sweet Aunt Lulu and his two young cousins. They all provide comic relief at various points throughout the film.
The film is also about Ariel Moore (Julianne Hough), the daughter of the town's pastor (Dennis Quaid) and his wife (Andie MacDowell, in a role that anyone could have done just as well) who is still mourning and recovering from her brother, Bobby's death in the accident three years before. She is currently dating this loser, Chuck who is a drunk race car driver. She has a low opinion of herself and the nasty Chuck takes full advantage of this. Everyone watching the film knows that Ariel and Ren will end up together, and they do, but the film is really about dancing, and finding yourself. Ren battles with the city council to make dancing legal again. Ariel fights to find herself and dump Chuck, which she does, in one of the most real scenes in the film, where Chuck beats her up. She fights to get her father to understand her again, which does happen, though it has much to do with his wife.
In the end, I feel that the leads might have done fairly well with their cookie cutter roles but it is the supporting characters that shine, namely Willard (Miles Teller), who can't even dance. But he still is great, with some of the funniest lines in the films. His girlfriend, Rusty, is also quite good. They are what makes the film worthwhile, because though the dancing may be good, the film is really nothing we haven't seen before, and leads are perhaps only slighty better than mediorce. At the same time, it is better and worse than Joyful Noise. Joyful Noise is much better acted (but then again, it had Queen Latifah in it) and the songs are more enjoyable, but Footloose is much funnier, but both are worth a second viewing. Grade: B