I must admit, when I heard that they were remaking Footloose, I was like, WTF!!  Why would you remake that movie.  I instantly came to the conclusion that there is no way in hell this was a good idea and there was also no way in hell this movie could be any good.  I went to a pre-screening of Footloose the other day, my arms crossed and cynicism was thick. At the end of the movie, I was very surprised. This was well done and very entertaining!

Confronting the self-imposed challenge of how to refashion a 1980s hit into something relevant to a modern audience, Paramount, joined by one of the original producers, Craig Zadan, decided to change virtually nothing at all, including the main songs. Once again, it's the story of a city boy (from Boston this time) who arrives in a small town (in the South rather than the Midwest) to discover a group of teenagers living under the thumb of fearful elders who have partially succeeded in turning back the clock to 1953.

It's not just religious repression that drives the restrictions that go beyond drink and drugs to banning public dancing and placing a curfew on adolescents. Three years earlier, the preacher's son, no doubt under the influence, was driving when he and four classmates were killed in a collision returning from a late-night party. Henceforth, the town of Bomont has been playing it way safe under the spiritual guidance of the sanctimonious Rev. Moore (Quaid), whose wife (Andie MacDowell) stands by quietly but whose daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) cats around with bad boy racing driver Chuck (Patrick John Flueger).

Although his haircut smacks of 1950s rockers, he's no doubt studied James Dean for attitudinal tips and his Boston accent rubs locals the wrong way (Wormald himself is actually from Massachusetts), Ren MacCormack, who's just lost his mother, arrives at the home of his uncle (Ray McKinnon) and aunt (Kim Dickens) intending to do good. But he represents a threat to many, from the police, who try to pin everything on him they can, to Chuck and the pastor, who separately suspect the stranger's intentions toward Ariel, when she's actually the aggressive one.

Astonished by the power of the puritans, Ren has the wherewithal to ask, “Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?” He also has formidable gymnastic and dancing skills, which he demonstrates at a brief, illicit gathering at a rural snack bar in front of a mixed gathering so thoroughly and easily integrated racially as to demonstrate that at least one important thing has changed in the South over the past half-century.

All in all, if you decide to see this movie, as pure entertainment, you will enjoy it.