Page "Kevin Bacon" Paragraph 8

Bolstered by the attention garnered by his performance in Diner, Bacon starred in the 1984 box-office smash Footloose.

Richard Corliss of TIME likened Footloose to the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause and the old Mickey Rooney / Judy Garland musicals, commenting that the film includes " motifs on book burning, mid-life crisis, AWOL parents, fatal car crashes, drug enforcement, and Bible Belt vigilantism.

" To prepare for the role, Bacon enrolled at a high school as a transfer student named " Ren McCormick " and studied teenagers before leaving in the middle of the day.

Bacon did earn strong reviews for Footloose, and he appeared on the cover of People magazine soon after its release.