Review of Dirty Dancing (1987) by Kai82 — 01 Apr 2022

It is a good movie and I would say a 7-8/10 is fair. What ruins it is that woman like it far more than man who are forced to watch it again and again with their loved ones. With this in mind it is a slow conditioning to hate the movie the more you have to rewatch it.

I repeat it is not a bad movie and might also be in the category of must see movies as you will be asked if you lived under a rock if you do not know this movie. The movie itself is a mixture of romance and drama with dancing and also signature role for both Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze.

I must also point out the soundtrack with a lot of timeless classic I must praise even if those are not fully my cup of tea. The movie is said to be based writer Elanor Bergsteins childhood. Set in the 1960ties it follows Frances Houseman nicknamed “Baby” who is on a vacation in a resort with her family in the Catskill mountains.

Out of curiosity she visits a party for the employees where she meets the dance instructor Johnny Castle. They have good chemistry but come from different worlds or better said social classes. When Johnnys dance partner Penny has a problem it is Frances chance to shine.

I am more than a bit vague here to avoid spoilers. The story works well and was copied countless times over the years to recreate this experience. I also say it is not special in a way to be praised but also far away from being garbage.

The characters deliver a good performance. Like I said it is the signature role for Patrick Swayze as Johnny and Jennifer Grey as Baby. For the rest I praise Cynthia Rhodes as Penny, Jane Bruckner and Jerry Orbach as Frances parents and Jack Weston as Max Kellerman.

A good performance by the cast. The dance choreography is enjoyable good but take this with a grain of salt as I am far away from being an expert for this. Like I said the soundtrack is amazing with classics that are still played in radio today like “The Times of my Life”, “Hungry Eyes”, “She is like the Wind” and more.

Overall I repeat my opening statement. A good movie but torture for most men. Because I was less tortured than others I can give a 5/10. Bonus knowledge: The lake scene training was actually a torture for the actors as it was really cold and both hated this as they had to redo it many times.