upstill@ucbvax.UUCP (Steve Upstill) (02/24/84)
the performances are so electric. John Lithgow is perfect, again. He turns the role of the bad-guy preacher into a human being. Kevin Bacon as The Kid is just as good in a better-fleshed-out part. He deserves our gratitude for NOT turning in a performance aimed at copping the "this year's James Dean" award. Christopher Penn proves he can act, as the bumpkin who befriends The Kid. The supporting cast is uniformly superb. The director is Herbert Ross (The Turning Point, Nijinsky, Pennies from Heaven), a dancing director. There were a half-dozen wonderful ideas in the picture, I assume from him, beginning with the titles: A thumping R&R song, and on-screen: nothing but dancing feet, two at a time. To give you an idea how good the good parts are, I'll tell you how bad the bad parts are: 1) The setting is like going into The Twilight Zone: the preacher has such an iron grip on the town, they don't allow dancing or rock-and-roll. 2) Kevin Bacon's big-city Dancing Fiend is completely drug-innocent, and an apparent virgin. Nonetheless, he looks like a Republican punk. 3) The plot moves with the all the speed and agility of a tractor. 4) Rock and Roll is presented not as a threat to the status quo but as the embodiment of the Spirit of Dance. 5) The Kid and The Preacher's Daughter "fall in love". etc, etc. And yet it works. Amazing. I'll be dragging friends to this picture for weeks. Steve Upstill