Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the music and movement will keep preteens entertained, but the sexual material and profanity may be too mature for the youngest. Teens will enjoy the energy of it, but the music is dated and the central conflict (to hold a dance or not) is a bit hard for teens to buy.
Families can talk about how we stand up for our values. What would you have done in Ren's shoes? How do you relate to authority figures similar to the one portrayed by John Lithgow?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Randy White
Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) moves to a small Iowa town where a fundamentalist preacher has banned dancing, rock 'n roll, and immoral books. Ren chafes at the restrictions. He also runs into difficulties with some of the locals who aren't fond of (cocky) outsiders. On the plus side, Ren's rebellious streak catches the eye of the preacher's libertine daughter, Ariel.
Frustrated, Ren leads a group of teens across the border for some illicit dancing. Then he petitions the town council for permission to hold a dance, but his impassioned speech falls on deaf ears. Fortunately, the preacher changes his mind after his wife (Dianne Wiest) and Ariel tell him he's being a bad father and a poor minister. With the preacher's consent, the dance goes forward, and some local good old boys even learn how to shake it.
Released at the dawn of the music video age, the movie shows the definite influence of MTV. With extended dance sequences that are only tangentially related to the plot, the movie plays, in parts, like an early rock video.
Teens audiences of the 1980s loved this movie and its music, but the contrived plot and cookie cutter characters were too much for one contemporary 13-year-old. She laughed at all the wrong places and thought the music was "ancient" (though she was caught bopping along to several tunes).
This viewer didn't buy the love story between the two leads and thought the preacher's change of heart was unconvincing. More importantly, she couldn't understand why anybody would ban dancing. The premise was too far removed from her world for her to get it or even to care.
The 13-year-old's comments are understandable. This is a very strange Iowa town. Drinking and smoking are pretty much ignored, but dancing is definitely a no-no. And the conversion of the preacher is implausible -- a raving tyrant in one scene, he is the voice of reason in another. Poor John Lithgow (Harry and the Hendersons) gives it all he has, but even this fine actor cannot make sense of the character. Kevin Bacon has a lot of fun with his part, but the same cannot be said for Ariel, played by Lori Singer.
Teens with a hankering for a dancing flick should try the much more entertaining (i.e. campy) Dirty Dancing.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentTeens talk about ordering diaphragms through the mail, masturbation, and going all the way. Two teens are seen getting dressed after they've obviously had sex. We see bare male bums in a shower. There are numerous comments about the preacher's daughter's promiscuity. |
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ViolenceFisticuffs. One bloody nose and one person knocked out. |
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LanguageFairly mild, including "asses" and "bulls--t." The worst is probably "bitch in heat." |
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Social BehaviorA girl straddles a moving car and a pickup truck. Two boys play a game of chicken in tractors. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoTeens talk of "sniffing spray starch" as a means of getting high. The cool kids smoke cigarettes, drink, and even use a little pot (though smoking dope is mostly frowned upon). |
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