Dirty Dancing Review

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Released: 1987

Dirty Dancing is one of those uncommon 80's films that became a phenomenon upon its release and subsequently went on to firmly entrench itself in movie history, such that even today nearly any movie fan instantly recognizes it at the least by name. What makes this romantic dancing film so well liked by movie fans? Find out in the Feature Attraction.

Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) and her well-off family check into a posh vacation resort located in the Catskills of New York, where they hope to spend a week of dancing, camp activities and all around fun. While exploring the sights Baby comes to know a couple of the staffers at the resort, namely Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a handsome and somewhat arrogant dancer, and Penny Johnson (Cynthia Rhodes), a beautiful blonde with a serious problem.

As Baby comes to know the two dancers, she discovers that Penny was knocked up by a creep and desperately wants an abortion so she can keep her job, but she doesn't have the money necessary for the procedure. Since the film takes place in the 60's, abortions are heavily frowned upon and not an easy option for a woman. To further complicate matters, the only night an abortion doctor will be available is the same night that Penny and Johnny are obligated to put on a dance at a local club.

Baby, the perpetual bright-eyed optimist, borrows $250.00 from her father to fund the abortion. She also volunteers to take Penny's place in the dance, which is met with skepticism since she doesn't even know how to dance! But left with no other option, Johnny and Penny go along with the plan.

While Johnny trains Baby in the arts of a Spanish-influenced "dirty" dance style, the two grow to love one another despite the fact staff is forbidden from carousing with clients. Although the dance event eventually goes off without a problem, Penny's abortion is an entirely different matter. The doctor was highly unqualified and did a real hack job, leaving Penny bloody and in pain. Desperate, Baby begs her father Jake (Jerry Orbach), who is a practicing doctor, to help Penny out.

Jake of course does so, but he erroneously blames Johnny for Penny's plight, believing him to be responsible for the pregnancy and the resulting poor medical care. Wanting to protect his daughter from his ilk, he also forbids Baby from seeing Johnny anymore.

But love is a powerful force. Baby must now choose between the two men in her life that mean the most to her…

Dirty Dancing earned two strikes right off the bat for me. First, I'm not much for romance movies. Second, I'm not all that hot on dance films or musicals either. But being a serious movie fan, I can appreciate a well-done movie no matter what genre it belongs to. Footloose is evidence of this, because it was another romantic dance movie from the 80's and I quite enjoyed it, so there was room for Dirty Dancing to earn my respect.

It didn't. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to explain why Dirty Dancing has remained so popular over the years. Dirty Dancing wasn't a bad film; it just wasn't spectacular or particularly noteworthy.

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey shared some good, sensual onscreen chemistry, which is all the more remarkable if the rumors about Swayze and Grey's personality clashes during filming are true. The dance scenes were also extremely well choreographed and executed, though this isn't terribly surprising given that Swayze comes from an impressive dancing background.

On those merits Dirty Dancing is a smashing success, but when you look under the hood a bit closer the flaws become noticeable. Despite the chemistry they shared, at times the leads' acting came off a bit wooden – a problem shared by most of the cast. Many of them were far more gifted at dancing than they were at acting.

The late Jerry Orbach, best known for his role in the popular television series Law and Order, lent a real sense of sincerity and humanity in his subtle standout performance. How can an actor stand out and behave subtly at the same time? That's the million-dollar question that sets the truly talented apart from the rest.

Dirty Dancing is an acceptable movie with some very impressive dance scenes and a generally likeable cast. Just be warned: in order to fully appreciate the movie you have to enjoy the subject matter and check your brain at the door and ride on emotion, because otherwise you'll notice little errors like people dancing at a 60's party to an 80's tune!

Movie rating: 7 stars

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