This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Accidents Happen
Plot Overview
Car lot salesman Wes
Warnicker (Ray McKinnon) raising children in
small town Georgia could not survive a recession were it not for
his rep as a scrupulously honest man. He's also
altruistic having sent some needed money (“I wish I could have
done more”) to his sister up north with leukemia.
When his sister finally expires, he
takes in his nephew from Boston, a high schooler Ren MacCormack
(Kenny Wormald.) Ren a stand-up guy runs afoul of a small town cop
Herb (Jayson Warner Smith) with an attitude. He violated their
noise ordinance with a loud radio. Seems three years ago after a
post game celebration of a huge win, the preacher's son Bobby Moore
(Blair Jasin) did some distracted driving ("he made one mistake")
while entering a choke point bridge and the oncoming truck was
unable to swerve. Five teens were killed. Did the town council
blame the automobile? No, but here in horse country, the Amish
might hold a different opinion. Did they blame excessive football
celebration? No, the school principal is its biggest fan. They
blamed dancing and loud late night music even though rock 'n' roll
has its own share of death songs, some of them featuring driver
stupidity. They have banned dancing, with a few wet blanket
exceptions in which partners must dance six inches
apart—eight inches for blacks.
The preacher's daughter
Ariel (Julianne Hough) follows Ren to a deserted garage where he's
gone to blow off steam, and then she gives him a tour of some local
sites including a derelict train car with graffiti inside of
“song lyrics, quotes from books, poems, music we're not
supposed to listen to,” etc. Allow me to contribute the Irish
poem, The American
Wake, typically given the day before sending somebody
off to America, by Francis A. Fahy
(1854–1935):
'Twas down at the Dohertys' “wake,”
(They were off to New York in the morning),
So we thought a night of it we'd make,
And gave all the countryside warning.
The girls came drest in their best,
The boys gathered to, every soul of them.
And Mary along with the rest—
'Tis she took the sway of the whole of them.
We'd a fiddler, the pipes, and a flute—
The three were enough sure to bother you,
But you dance to whichever might suit,
And tried not to think of the other two.
The frolic was soon at its height,
The small drop went round never chary,
The girls would dazzle your sight,
But all I could think of was Mary.
The first jig, faith, out she'd go,
The piper played “Haste to the Wedding,”
And while I set to heel and toe,
You'd think t'was on eggs she was treading.
So bright was her smile and her glance,
So dainty the modest head bowed of her,
'Tis she was the Queen of the Dance,
And wasn't it I that was proud of her!
The movie's opening dance scene was wild, with attention given to footwork, not dodging egg shells per se but tossed Dixie cups.
At last I looked out for a chair,
And off I led Mary in state to it;
But think of us when we got there,
The sorra the sign of a sate to it!
Still, as there was no other free,
We thought we'd put up with a start with it—
Och, when she sat down on my knee
For an emperor's throne I'd not part with it.
Ariel plays chicken on the train tracks, Ren tackles her out of the way, and she ends up in his arms atop her.
When Mary sat down on my lap
A tremor ran through every bit of me,
My heart 'gin my ribs gave a rap
As if it was going to be quit of me.
I tried just a few words to say,
To show the delight and pride of me,
But my tongue was dry in a way
As if I'd a bonfire inside of me.
Ren in Ariel's presence is a man of few words; he's tongue-tied.
And there was the colleen as mild
As if nothing at all was wrong with me,
And I just as wake as a child,
To have her so easy along with me.
My arm around her I passed
When I saw there was no one persaiving us—
“Don't you wish, dear,” says I at long last,
“The Dohertys always were laving us?”
It wasn't just the one exception of
a senior dance which Ren wanted but to exercise his right to have
them any time he chose, which sentiment he was eventually forced to
convey to the whole city council and observers.
The words weren't out of my mouth
When the thieves of musicians stopped playing,
And the boys ruz a laugh and a shout,
When they listened to what I was saying.
Poor Mary as swift as a hare
Ran off 'mong the girls and hid herself,
And except that I fell through the chair,
I fairly forget what I did myself.
Ren was in trouble with the preacher Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) for bringing his daughter in past curfew.
The Dohertys scarce in New York
Were landed, I'm thinking, a week or more,
When a wedding took place in West Cork,
The like of it vainly you'd seek before.
Some day if my way you should pass,
Step in—I've a drop of the best of it;
And while Mary is mixing a glass,
I'll try and I'll tell you the rest of it.
(127–29)
Ideology
Success per one biblical formula follows, (Prov. 30:24) “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:”
(Prov. 30:25) “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” The first step is to get busy while young, in the summer of life, with an eye to future provision. Ren in Boston worked on car engines, oil changes. Then in Bomont he fixed up a junker and the next week started work at a cotton mill pulling his weight, and he helped out at home.
(Prov. 30:26) “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” The next step is location, being situated in a place conducive to thriving in one's field. Ariel has “applied to colleges. Nobody wants to see Bomont in the rearview mirror more than me.”
(Prov. 30:27) “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” The next step on the road to success is to cultivate an informal support network. Wes “and the judge are so buddy-buddy.” He can intervene to have him go light on his nephew (“Not everyone has this town on lockdown like I do.”)
(Prov. 30:28) “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.” Those palaces get dusted regularly, but the spider keeps giving it another shot and his web is up again the next day. Sure, your dreams fall through, but that's the nature of the game. Give it another go; that's how to succeed. Ren addresses the town council: “All us teenagers, pretty soon we're gonna be just like you. We're gonna have jobs, and bills, and families. And we're gonna have to worry about our own children, because that is the job of a parent. To worry. I get that. But ours, as teenagers, is to live! To play our music way too loud and to act like idiots! And to make mistakes.” When he can't convince them, the kids set up a senior prom in neighboring Bayson.
Production Values
“” (2011) was directed by Craig Brewer. It was written by Dean Pitchford and Craig Brewer, being a remake of the 1984 original. It stars Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid. Wormald being cast as a gymnast/dancer goes to show it's easier to teach a gymnast to act than an actor to do flips. His Boston accent waxed & waned throughout the movie. Hough being pretty attracted her share of loser guys, which her old man seemed oblivious to. She dressed for the pictures more than as a modest preacher's daughter. Acting across the board sufficed for this vehicle of dance exhibition.
MPA rated it PG–13 for some teen drug and alcohol use,
sexual content, violence and language. A consistently packed church
let us know we were in the Bible belt. The music was eclectic.
Dance varied from break dancing to country line dancing. Runtime is
1 hour 53 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Bible use
varies. The separation of church and state keeps religious
instruction out of the public school, but much of the Bible being
legit literature, it might show up in Ren's literature and
composition class anyway. His new friend Willard (Miles
Teller) argues with him from Bible sayings that aren't even in the
Bible, but Ren doesn't know the difference. Ariel can quote a Bible
verse to her dad the preacher and have him think it over. She marks
passages in her own Bible for Ren to present to the council. His
arguments are cogent, but they already had their minds made up. Not
the first time that has ever happened, I suppose.
This movie is no epic, but there's lots of good dancing in it and not a little drama. It's good for a view if you have reasonable expectations.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three and a half stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Fahy, Francis. “The American Wake.” Reproduced in Alfred Perceval Graves and Guy Pertwee, The Reciter's Treasury of Irish Verse and Prose. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd., > 1914. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org