Saturday 12 November 2011

FILM TIE IN: Footloose - Rudy Josephs

Release Date: 03/10/11

SYNOPSIS:

When city boy Ren moves to small town USA, he is in for serious culture shock. After a local drunk driving accident, the town has outlawed all forms of teen rebellion-no late nights, no partying, no rock music, no dancing. But there is one thing that keeps Ren from going totally out of his mind- the minister's daughter, Ariel. Ariel has a rebellious streak too, and it's not long before she and Ren are rallying their friends, and proving to the adults that teen spirit, celebration, and yes, a little rebellion, can't be contained-it's downright contagious!

The themes of this classic movie are timely as ever: freedom of expression, the role of religion in community, defining family values, and- the ultimate perennial- rock n' roll and teen spirit!


REVIEW:

OK, I’m about to show my age here as I can vividly recall the Kevin Bacon film of the same name and whilst Hollywood is currently going through a whole host of remakes, its going to take a lot to beat the original for me. What this book does is bring the themes explored within the film back to the readers forefront and whilst everything moves at the same pace, I can’t help but think that the author wasn’t quite as sure of the characters as the reader will be.

It was written fairly closely with the film but part of the problem for me, is what works on film won’t necessarily work on the page and that was the key when trying to bring this title to the reader. It’s clunky in places, the characters don’t feel that they’re flesh and blood and to be honest it wasn’t something I enjoyed reading. A great shame all round and I think I’ll stick with my Kenny Loggins version.

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