A Chicago teen, Ren (Kevin Bacon), moves to a small, rural town where the townspeople seem to have things twisted. Their reality plays out like a horror film where rock and roll and dancing are strictly forbidden. As Ren becomes acclimated to the area and meets new people like Ariel (Lori Singer) and Willard (Chris Penn), he is determined to defy the law and make things right for the depraved teenagers. Ren will soon find that Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow) and Ariel’s boyfriend--Chuck Cranston (Jim Youngs)--are forces to be reckoned with and changing their minds on such trivial matters will prove to be quite difficult.
Kevin Bacon is a generational talent who puts 100% into each and every one of his roles; his performance in this film was no different. From the moment Bacon stepped on screen he brilliantly shined. His ability to perfectly depict emotion and make connections with the other actors enhanced the film’s simplistic scenes. Penn was the perfect choice to play Willard, as he and Bacon appeared to have great chemistry. Their scenes together were fun, and they brilliantly fed off of one another’s passion. The bulk of the writing seemed a bit too far-fetched to enjoy, however, the dialogue between Bacon and Penn appeared to be that of two lifelong friends rather than two actors attempting to feed off of one another. Writer Dean Pitchford found a beautiful balance when it came to scripting their scenes together. Pitchford managed to write sensationally for the two friends, but he struggled to bring the same life and relatability to the rest of the story.
While Bacon and Penn did a marvelous job of connecting with audiences, and they were the majority of the reason that this film was, in any way, enjoyable,, it was Kenny Loggins, John Mellencamp and Bonnie Tyler that made the significant connection with the audience. Many of these scenes were silly, and their ability to reach audiences more than thirty years after the film’s initial release has diminished to some degree. Yet, Loggins, Mellencamp and Tyler’s music played such a large role in creating fun and relatable scenes. Their music is iconic and still plays a role in people’s lives today, making the addition of their music to the film priceless.
Multiple generations were able to appreciate Pitcford and director Herbert Ross’ product because of the music. The ability for this film to reach audiences as it did in the 80’s is surely not what it was, however, many of the film’s tangibles were quite impressive and allowed new generations to appreciate, on some level, what was done here.
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