A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 6 nominations total
Chris Penn
- Willard
- (as Christopher Penn)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scenes where Chris Penn's character had to learn how to dance were added to the script because Penn really could not dance.
- GoofsWhen Ren is dancing in the factory and is swinging on the high bar-type pole, he is wearing gloves. During the rest of the sequence he is bare-handed.
- Quotes
Ren: You like Men at Work?
Willard: Which man?
Ren: Men at Work.
Willard: Well, where do they work?
Ren: No, they don't, they're a music group.
Willard: Well, what do they call themselves?
Ren: Oh no! What about the Police?
Willard: What about 'em?
Ren: You ever heard them?
Willard: No, but I seen them.
Ren: Where, in concert?
Willard: No, behind you.
- Alternate versionsCBS edited 10 minutes from this film for its 1987 network television premiere.
- SoundtracksFootloose
Performed by Kenny Loggins
Written by Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford
Produced by Kenny Loggins with Lee De Carlo (as Lee DeCarlo)
Featured review
'Footloose', despite being an enormous hit back in the 80s, seems to be a very divisive love it/hate it film critically now.
This reviewer neither loves or hates 'Footloose', from personal opinion it falls short of being great but the immense appeal is definitely understandable.
Its biggest weak point is the story. Conceptually it's daft, and further hampered by laying it on too thick with the ridiculousness (the drug scene and the basic concept) and over-sentimentality (the Reverend's somewhat tacky reform that didn't really ring true compared to how his character was written in general). Ren's dance routine in the abandoned warehouse was far too randomly placed, coming at an unrealistically weird point in the film.
Lori Singer being too old didn't bother me as much as it did other reviewers, but the overacting, constantly looking as if she was trying too hard, was less forgivable. The script is uneven, sometimes it's humorously light-hearted and feel good and there is a laudable attempt at providing depth with some more mature themes but too much of it is also cheesy and flimsy.
However, the songs are toe-tappingly great, especially the title song "Footloose" and "Let's Hear it for the Boy". The dancing is spirited, and apart from that one scene with Ren the choreography and dance numbers are finger-snappingly infectious. 'Footloose' is a good-looking film too, beautifully shot and smartly photographed with some inventive visuals in the title song, while the direction is solid enough and the pacing sharp and energetic constantly.
Singer aside, the cast are simply terrific, with Kevin Bacon in the role that made him a star making for a good free-spirited lead and the sadly late Chris Penn proving that he had the talent to make it bigger than he did. Dianne Wiest doesn't seem capable of giving a bad performance, while John Lithgow is effectively subtle and wisely reigns in in a role that could easily have been the opposite.
Overall, falls short of being a great film but the appeal is definitely understandable, because there are a lot of good elements that outweigh the still quite big flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox
This reviewer neither loves or hates 'Footloose', from personal opinion it falls short of being great but the immense appeal is definitely understandable.
Its biggest weak point is the story. Conceptually it's daft, and further hampered by laying it on too thick with the ridiculousness (the drug scene and the basic concept) and over-sentimentality (the Reverend's somewhat tacky reform that didn't really ring true compared to how his character was written in general). Ren's dance routine in the abandoned warehouse was far too randomly placed, coming at an unrealistically weird point in the film.
Lori Singer being too old didn't bother me as much as it did other reviewers, but the overacting, constantly looking as if she was trying too hard, was less forgivable. The script is uneven, sometimes it's humorously light-hearted and feel good and there is a laudable attempt at providing depth with some more mature themes but too much of it is also cheesy and flimsy.
However, the songs are toe-tappingly great, especially the title song "Footloose" and "Let's Hear it for the Boy". The dancing is spirited, and apart from that one scene with Ren the choreography and dance numbers are finger-snappingly infectious. 'Footloose' is a good-looking film too, beautifully shot and smartly photographed with some inventive visuals in the title song, while the direction is solid enough and the pacing sharp and energetic constantly.
Singer aside, the cast are simply terrific, with Kevin Bacon in the role that made him a star making for a good free-spirited lead and the sadly late Chris Penn proving that he had the talent to make it bigger than he did. Dianne Wiest doesn't seem capable of giving a bad performance, while John Lithgow is effectively subtle and wisely reigns in in a role that could easily have been the opposite.
Overall, falls short of being a great film but the appeal is definitely understandable, because there are a lot of good elements that outweigh the still quite big flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 17, 2016
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $8,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $80,035,402
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,556,935
- Feb 20, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $80,047,589
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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