I liked it more than I expected to and possibly more than I should have, though it still earned no better than three stars on Letterboxd. And part of the reason I think it did make that minimum star rating for a recommendation is that it reminded me so much of Herbert Ross' original.
How much? Well, it's basically a shot-by-shot remake.
And here I thought that sort of thing was reserved for Gus Van Sant.
Now, I emphasize the word "basically." Obviously it's upgraded in certain parts -- though not as many as you might think -- to reflect the 21st century setting. And there are certain wholesale changes to scenes that serve the same function as a scene in the original movie, like how the tractor chicken fight has become a weird figure eight-shaped race involving school buses. Yes, you read that right.
But the vast majority of scenes, and character names, and memorable -- even unmemorable -- dialogue exchanges are virtually exactly the same. The scenes tend even to be shot from the same angles, and most of the songs in the original are either played or covered, though they are not necessarily used in the exact same parts of the movie.
It's a curious choice, and obviously, one that succeeded with me to enough of a degree that I enjoyed the movie. But there's also something a bit cynical about it. You could look at it as Brewer and his collaborators satirizing the very notion of remakes, saying, essentially, "You love the original movie? Well, here, it's basically exactly the same thing. Fork over your money!"
They didn't. It made only $52 million in the US, $63 million worldwide. That's not awful, but the budget was $24 million and it's reasonable to assume that the cost of advertising might have nearly doubled that. So really, not what they were hoping for.
I wonder if part of the reason it didn't resonate was the fact that Kevin Bacon -- who does not make the cameo you might expect -- is replaced here by a guy named Kenny Wormald, who was hired for his dancing skills, most likely, and maybe the fact that he could do the Massachusetts accent, being a native of the Boston area. Although he didn't stop working entirely after this movie, he clearly didn't take off as the producers likely expected he would. Maybe having Ren played by Zac Efron, who dropped out because he didn't want to be seen as only a song and dance man, would have brought this movie to a few more eyeballs.
So is a shot-by-shot remake the type of movie I really want to give my seal of approval with a three-star rating? It's an interesting discussion to have. You might call it lazy, however there's also a sort of formal diligence involved in making a loving recreation of something, with such fealty to the original. I might have called it cynical, but the other way to look at that is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Craig Brewer likely loved the original Footloose as much as his peers, which include me.
In any case, it made for an agreeable Sunday morning viewing.
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