Review of Dirty Dancing (1987) by Jennifer B — 15 Oct 2016

Dirty Dancing was produced in 1987 as a drama. The film was written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Adolino. The films main actor was Patrick Swayze, who played Johnny and the main actress was Jennifer Grey, who played Baby. Dirty Dancing is a coming of age movie that was both relevant at the time of production in 1987 as well as relevant today. This movie includes a plot which deals with abortion, a topic which still stirs much controversy today. Dirty Dancing is drama. Men and women alike are able to take themselves back to a time when dancing and life's events is what brought them together for better or for worse, for one reason or another.

Dirty Dancing takes you on a families' vacation during the summer of in 1963. Baby, along with her parents and sister are headed to Kellerman's resort for their first family vacation in six years. It is not long after that while she is wandering around the grounds that she runs into the bell boy Billy, played by Neal Jones, that she had previously meet while unloading their suitcases from the car. He asks her if she wants to help him take some watermelons up to the staff quarters. As the doors open her mouth drops and she sees for the first time people dirty dancing. She scoots her way across the room careful not to stare or look to hard at the way the people are dancing. As she drops off the watermelon that she had been carrying, she sees him. He is Johnny, played by Patrick Swayze. Johnny is the dancer who has already showed off his moves with his dance partner Penny, played by Cynthia Rhodes. He proceeds to take Baby out on the dance floor and dirty dance with her. She has no clue what she is doing but she is having fun.

The family is out for the evening enjoying the summer breeze by the gazebo when Baby begins to be eyed by the resort owner's grandson, Neil. Neil offers to take Baby to the kitchen and offers her anything she wants. While in the kitchen Baby notices the that the dancer she admires, Penny, is bending over in the corner crying. She quickly tells Neil that she is no longer hungry and rushes back to find Billy in order to tell him what she has seen. Billy interrupts the dance between Johnny and a guest and then they all run off to see what is wrong with Penny. Once they find Penny and head back to the dance studio it is there that Baby finds out that Penny is pregnant and that she wants to have an abortion. Billy says that he found a doctor that can perform the surgery but he is only in town one day next week and it is going to cost money, which none of them have. The next day Baby asks her father, who is a doctor, for the money. She tells him that she can't tell him what the money is for but that it is important. Baby eagerly finds Penny and Johnny and tells them that she has the money. Penny is excited but says she can't take the money because they have a show at another local hotel the same day as the surgery and they can't find anyone to fill in for Penny. Billy offers up Baby to be Penny's stand in for the show. It is agreed that Johnny is a great teacher and he agrees to teach Baby the dance.

The movie goes on to take the viewer though the many dance lesson that Baby needs in order to get up to speed with not only how to dance, because it appears that she has two left feet, but also how the dance will be performed. The dance lessons are intense. First Baby must learn how to count the beats to the music, then she must put the beat to the moves she is learning. Baby practices even when she doesn't have to be practicing. At one point in the film, Baby gets frustrated with Johnny because the show is only days away and he is not showing her all the lifts and moves that she will need to know. Johnny decides that they need a change of scenery and takes her to a local lake where they can practice the lifts there. Then show night comes. They go on stage and perform, Baby is unable to do the lift but all in all they feel the show went well. When they arrive back at the staff quarters they see that Penny is in pain. Baby runs off and gets her dad. Penny is given proper medication and is said that she will be okay in time.

Even after the show Johnny and Baby can't seem to stay away from each other. Baby has fallen for Johnny and Johnny for Baby. They sneak off to dance and see one another often. There are however, some other guests that have been accustom to having time with Johnny but now that Johnny has fallen for Baby their time is no longer available. It turns out that a jealous guest has turned Johnny in for allegedly stealing wallets from guests. Baby stands up for Johnny telling the owner that she can vouch for Johnny's whereabouts for the evening in question because she was with him all night. Baby's father is not pleased that his daughter is sleeping around with Johnny and in the end Johnny is fired for sleeping with a guest. Baby and Johnny said they good byes and Johnny races off, saying "he will never regret it". Baby is sad knowing that she will never see Johnny again and that her father is mad with her decision to be with Johnny. On the last night the resort holds a variety show. Usually Johnny and his dancers do the final act but since Johnny was fired all of variety show folks are on stage singing one final act. Then Johnny walks in. He searches the crowd to find Baby and sees her. He walks up to the table with her parents and says, "nobody buts Baby in the corner", takes her hand and leads her on stage. Billy puts on a song and Johnny takes Baby's hand and they dance one final amazing dance together.