Footloose (2011) Parent Guide
Unfortunately a lively musical accompaniment and dance moves by talented performers don't do enough to make the new Footloose an attractive option for family viewing.
Parent Movie Review
The 1984 movie Footloose featured plenty of teen drinking—a problem that no one seemed to be addressing. Thirty years have done a lot to change our attitudes about underage alcohol consumption, especially when it involves driving.
Unfortunately the new adaptation of Footloose adheres so closely to the original script it paints itself into a time warp when it comes to booze. Despite its prolific use, other issues get all the adult attention. Parents, who watched the first film as teens, will also find a lot of similar content in this remake. The preacher’s promiscuous daughter Ariel Moore (Julianne Hough) often pushes parental limits and engages in dangerous stunts. While less skin is exposed than in the original R-rated movie, sexual innuendo between characters is common.
In the update, Kenny Wormald reprises the role of Ren McCormack played first by Kevin Bacon. He’s a big city kid who moves to small town Bomont to live with his Uncle Wes (Ray McKinnon) and Aunt Lulu (Kim Dickens) after the death of his mother. His loss and subsequent relocation are only made more difficult when he discovers public dancing is prohibited by order of the local town council. Five of Bomont’s outstanding teens, including the son of Reverend Moore (Dennis Quaid), were killed in a car accident. Drinking and distracted driving contributed to the head-on collision but because the students were returning from an out of town dance, the event was blamed and banned.
Three years later, nothing more raucous than a church dance has taken place—though you’d be hard pressed to believe it when you see these kids’ moves at a secret event held at a drive-in movie theater. Only Ren’s cowboy friend Willard (Miles Teller) doesn’t boogie, not because he doesn’t want to, but because he can’t.
Pitting two sides against one another, Footloose is a classic tale of teen rebellion with the adults, religion and small town policies clearly in the wrong. Ren, the outsider, is accused of bringing trouble to the community after a student tries to peg him as a drug dealer. Yet the local adolescents are involved in fistfights, abusive beatings and illegal activities (such as faking their way into a big city bar). And these indiscretions are supposed to be viewed as less serious because they are accompanied by a foot stomping musical score.
Although Ren legally approaches city council to revoke the bylaw, many of the daily activities he and the other teens engage in are far from law abiding. As well, the Reverend and town council’s intentions to forestall another serious accident are admirable, but in the midst of setting down the rules about their kids’ diversions they fail to address the bigger issues afflicting their children.
Unfortunately some fancy footwork in the opening credits, a lively musical accompaniment and dance moves by talented performers don’t do enough to make the new Footloose an attractive option for family viewing.
Directed by Craig Brewer. Starring Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid. Running time: 120 minutes. Theatrical release October 14, 2011. Updated April 2, 2020
Footloose (2011)
Rating & Content Info
Why is Footloose (2011) rated PG-13? Footloose (2011) is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language.
Violence: Characters engage in dangerous stunts including racing buses, standing on the train tracks and driving after drinking. Teens are involved in fistfights, including one where a crowbar is used as a weapon. A girl hits a truck with a crowbar. A man pushes a girl to the ground and beats her. A father slaps his daughter. A character is hit in the head with a beer bottle. Car windows are broken during a fight.
Sexual Content: Characters perform suggestive dance moves. A girl engages in passionate kissing and intimate activities after being dared by her partner. Characters discuss their sexual relations. Teens kiss. Females wear revealing and scanty clothing. Male teens make several offensive comments about females.
Language: The script contains several crude expressions for sex, vulgar anatomical language, frequent scatological slang, and profanities. Terms of Deity, as well as sexual innuendo, are used along with brief racial comments and sexual slurs.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Teens drink frequently at parties and at home. Teens are killed in an accident where alcohol is supposedly involved. Underage characters fake their way into a bar. A teen carries alcohol in his car and drinks some when he is upset. A character is set up to look like a drug seller. Young adults use illegal drugs and then drive under the influence. A character talks about getting high everyday. Adults talk about putting bourbon in a baked dish.
Page last updated April 2, 2020
Footloose (2011) Parents' Guide
The theme of the movie addresses the perceived backwardness of this small town. With Internet, cell phones and other technology, does this concept work as well in 2011? Are large cities more progressive than rural areas? How do you define progress?
How does Ren treat Ariel compared to her boyfriend Chuck (Patrick John Flueger)? How does that affect the way she feels about herself?
Who are the positive adults in this story? Though the teens disagree with the town council’s decision, what good things are the Bomont officials trying to achieve?
Home Video
The most recent home video release of Footloose (2011) movie is March 6, 2012. Here are some details…
Home Video Notes: Footloose (2011)
Release Date: 6 March 2012
Footloose releases to home video in a Combo Pack (Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet Digital Copy). The package includes:
- Commentary by Craig Brewer
- Three behind-the-scenes featurettes: Jump Back: Re-Imagining Footloose, Everybody Cut: The Stars of Footloose and Dancing with the Footloose Stars
- Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Craig Brewer
- Three music videos
- Footloose Rap
Related home video titles:
This movie is a remake of the 1984 Footloose. Teens and young adults also rebel against the status quo in Hairspray, Rent and High School Musical.