Dirty Dancing Collection

Jennifer Grey

Patrick Swayze

Jerry Orbach

Cynthia Rhodes

Jack Weston

Jane Brucker

Kelly Bishop

Lonny Price

Max Cantor

Charles "Honi" Coles

Neal Jones

"Cousin Brucie" Morrow

Wayne Knight

Paula Trueman

Alvin Myerovich

Miranda Garrison

Garry Goodrow

Antone Pagán

Thomas Cannold

Lincoln Michael Llano

Jesus Fuentes

Heather Lea Gerdes

Karen Getz

Andrew Charles Koch

D.A. Pauley

Dorian Sanchez

Jennifer Stahl

Jonathan Barnes

Dwyght Bryan

Tom Drake

John Gotz

Dwayne Malphus

Clifford Watkins

Stamati Arakas

Emile Ardolino

Darren W. Conrad

Lori Janney

Karen Kaster

Maxine McClanahan

Jonathan Reed

Cole Russing

Linda Gottlieb

John Morris

Jeffrey Jur

Peter C. Frank

Hilary Rosenfeld

Mitchell Cannold

Bonnie Timmermann

Mark Haack

Clay A. Griffith

Steven Reuther

David Chapman

Kenny Ortega

Kevin Lee Allen

Tommy Allen

Bill Ballou

Joseph S. DeBeasi

Danny Goldberg

Michael Lloyd

Michael DiCosimo

Mark Rathaus

Dan Sable

Fríða Aradóttir

Marlies Vallant

David Forrest

Gilbert La Chapelle

Michael F. Barrow

Ted Churchill

David Knox

Randy Nolen

Adger W. Cowans

Robert L. Blatman

Jim Lovelett

Eleanor Bergstein

Franke Previte

John DeNicola

Donald Markowitz

Lawrence Kasanoff

Dawn Baillie

Ken Chocolate

Dale Bartlett

Sacha Semeria

Greg Smith

Mark Burchard

Lisa Grace Erndt

Elizabeth Feldbauer

Claudia Stephens

Michael Nations

Christine M. Kiolbassa

John Marston

Jellybean Benítez

Edie Lehmann Boddicker

Roger Rhodes

Jimmy Ienner

Eugene Marks

Tommy Tedesco

Jerry Jackson

David Milchen

Steven Baker

Keith Bunting

Russell Burrell

Parnes Cartwright

Julia Cort

Jeff Fender

Adam Lee Freeman

Michael Gallagher

Alan Grabelsky

Tony Hardmon

Jim Helein

George Howell

Heather McGrath Jacobs

Melania Kang

Alice Katz

Lisa Manshel

Marina Marit

Scott Mednick

Eric Milchen

Chris Northup

Susan Pickett

Brian Robertson

Anastasia Tikka

Dori Berinstein

Bundy Chanock

Cynthia Daddona

Vicki Dee Rock

Michael Goldman

Jackie Horner

Tom Barrett

Douglas Axtell

George Baetz

Marilyn Bailey

Doro Bachrach

Stephen J. Lineweaver

Eileen Eichenstein

Drama

Music

Romance

Dirty Dancing

Great American Films Limited Partnership

Vestron Pictures

United States of America

This was schmaltzy but decent and could have been a lot worse. Normally I run from this sort of film like the plague but Patrick Swayze's recent death and me greatly enjoying 'Point Break' recently made me want to check out another one of his finest roles ('Ghost' and 'Road House' will have to wait, methinks.). When I got my first DJ-ing job, working the night shift at the now-defunct K-102 FM in Woodstock as a teenager, I often received calls asking for any of the three hit songs from its stellar and nostalgia-wringing soundtrack: Eric Carmen's 'Hungry Eyes', Swayze's own 'She's Like the Wind' or the Oscar-winning 'The Time of My Life' by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. It was interesting now, almost three decades later, finally seeing the music I had played on the airwaves eon before now shown in some sort of cinematic context.

It was OK to see as a tribute to Swayze's craft (he was trained in classic ballet as well as in acting) but I'm left with no interest whatsoever in either the sequel or remake, unless as a special gift for my lady, Tammy.

Entertaining hit with lush Appalachian locations, but the writing doesn't respect the intelligence of the viewer  

RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Emile Ardolino, "Dirty Dancing" stars Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle, a working-class dance instructor at a mountain resort in the Catskills in 1963. Jennifer Grey costars as "Baby," the 17-year-old daughter of an affluent Jewish doctor vacationing at the resort. She takes the place of Johnny's dance partner after his partner gets pregnant, albeit not by Johnny. Baby naturally develops a crush.

This was the hit romantic drama of 1987, but it actually didn’t make as much at the domestic box office compared to the other two dance flicks of the 80s: “Flashdance” (1983) made $95 million and “Footloose” (1984) $80 million while “Dirty Dancing” brought it $64 million. The two main cast members are a highlight. Swayze was in his prime and Jennifer Grey cute & nimble, like a fawn. In reality Grey was 26 years-old during filming, although she passes for late teens pretty well. Swayze, however, was 34 and looked it, albeit trim and fit.

The lush Appalachian locations are outstanding and the story keeps your attention but you'll roll your eyes at the idiotic misunderstanding where Baby's father assumes Johnny's the one who got his partner pregnant and, for some strange reason, no one sets him straight. Not to mention, the characters always say the wrong thing at the wrong time, which perpetuates the misunderstanding. Also, the sexual union of Johnny & Baby is both premature and unbelievable in light of the time period, Baby's age (17 years-old) and her upbringing. Frankie Avalon was once asked about his early 60’s "Beach" movies if the male-female relationships were as "squeaky clean" as portrayed and he answered (paraphrasing): "As a teen back then 'going all the way' wasn't even considered an option." The obvious exception would be disreputable kids from the "other side of the tracks."

Moreover, the fact that Johnny is having sex with the doctor's daughter, a minor at that, can't win any points in his favor. Hence, even without the misunderstanding there's little reason for the father to warm up to Johnny. So why does the doctor show respect for Johnny at the end, a dude who's fornicating with his under-aged daughter and is clearly much older than her as well, although it could be argued that he’s naïve and doesn’t necessarily know they’re having sex already. Flaws like these smack of lazy writing and are offensive to anyone with an ounce of intelligence.

If you can look past these problems, however, the film is entertaining. The dance sequences shown in the staff area are akin to vertical sex with clothes on. I guess that's why it's called "Dirty Dancing," huh? Yet this is another flaw of the movie: these scenes are so amped-up and choreographed they shout to the viewer via megaphone: "This is A MOVIE; it's NOT REAL." Nonetheless, Grey's a cutie, Swayze's The Man and the beautiful Appalachian locations are a highlight, filmed at Mountain Lake Resort, Pembroke, Virginia, and Lake Lure, NC.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 45 minutes. WRITER: Eleanor Bergstein.

GRADE: B-/C+

A pretty simplistic film with a plot that's more of an excuse to show dance scenes and an extremely surface level handling of the issues of gender and class that it raises, but it's pretty cute and also I'm bisexual so I like it anyway.

Andre Gonzales

An ok movie. A lot of cheesy parts that I didn't like. I did like the dancing and the love story. I guess it was better at that time.

Pretty iconic.

Not sure how I hadn't logged this until now, given it's a film I watched quite a bit growing up due to it being my mum's favourite movie. Better late than never! 'Dirty Dancing' is entertaining - cheesy, but entertaining. What helps is the ace soundtrack, which culminates with the classic '(I've Had) The Time of My Life' scene.

The film flies through its 100-minute run time and features super chemistry between leads Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, two who give strong performances. Jerry Orbach (Just me confusing him with Jonathan Hyde? Probably.) is good too. As you'd expect, the dance numbers are all on point as well.

I've never checked out the 2004 prequel, 'Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights'. It's next up, though high hopes I do not hold - but we'll see.