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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Ren McCormack moves from the city to a small town where dancing and rock music have been banned, and his rebellious spirit threatens to change that.
So now I've seen both the two 80s dance movies I've seen get the most attention. :) Perhaps surprisingly, I liked Dirty Dancing, but this one just didn't do much for me.
It's interesting, though, that this movie is the polar opposite of Dirty Dancing in some ways. :) What really made Dirty Dancing was the bond between the two leads, but the romance here is not in the forefront of the story, and it's just kind of mediocre. Ariel is established as a fiercely rebellious spirit before we even meet Ren, so it just seems like they were meant for each other anyway.
Also, I felt the only letdown of Dirty Dancing was the villains. But the main antagonist here, the Reverend Shaw Moore, is not just a simple stick-in-the-mud who won't listen, but is actually a three-dimensional and kind of sympathetic character.
But I think the main reason I couldn't get into this movie is because the prejudiced environment comes off as very peripheral. Ren getting into trouble at school, the townspeople violently turning against him and his mother… all these ideas are hinted at, but none of them are fully fleshed out.
So if you like Footloose, if it inspired you, great. I just found it to be really nothing special.
My rating: 55%
