Dirty Dancing (1987) review

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Directed by: Emile Ardolino

Produced by: Linda Gottlieb

Screenplay by: Eleanor Bergstein

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes

What do you associate with summertime? Well, as someone living in eastern Pennsylvania, where as I’m typing this, the temperature has been in the 90-95°F range, my answer is UNBEARABLE HEAT. But for the sake of today’s review, let’s just say going on a fun vacation. There you may relax, go to carnivals, eat different kinds of food, camp, swim, meet new people, go miniature golfing…or even learn to dance and fall in love. Today’s film is “Dirty Dancing,” based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s personal experiences of spending summers with her family in the Catskills of New York and participating in dancing competitions. If you know me, you’ll know I’m not the biggest fan of cheesy love stories. That is to say, I like love stories when they’re done really well; but the ones that have a lot of forced cliché elements that keep the main couple apart tend to annoy me, especially the ones with poor dialogue. Thankfully, that’s not the case here, as while plenty of story aspects are familiar, the character depth and musical understanding give the movie plenty of welcome energy.

The film opens with high school graduate Frances, a.k.a. “Baby” (Jennifer Grey), traveling with her father Jake (Jerry Orbach), mother Marjorie (Kelly Bishop) and older sister Lisa (Jane Brucker) to the upscale Kellerman’s summer resort, as the owner Max (Jack Weston) is friends with Jake. The activities there are mostly family-friendly fun, as Jake still thinks of Baby as innocent and naïve, though still kind and thoughtful. But one night, Baby sneaks away to a secret “dirty dancing” party for resort staff, where she meets and learns a few moves from the reserved Johnny (Patrick Swayze), one of the dance instructors on the entertainment staff. Soon after, she learns that Johnny’s dance partner Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) is pregnant by Robbie (Max Cantor), a selfish waiter and womanizer who is now pursuing Lisa. With Robbie refusing to help, Baby borrows money from Jake to pay for Penny’s abortion; that leaves Johnny without a partner for an upcoming lucrative performance, so Baby offers to stand in. Through their mutual sessions, they develop a strong attraction, even as circumstances threaten to come between them.

So like I said, the actual story regarding Baby and Johnny’s relationship is very basic and predictable; it’s two people from different backgrounds and social standing that have to hide their relationship, but then it’s found out and there are all these things that indicate they can’t be together, and then a last-minute reprieve that brings them back together again. However, I find myself very invested in these two, partly because the performances have just the right balance of sweetness and edge. Patrick Swayze plays Johnny with a surprising amount of depth, while Jennifer Grey is a revelation as Baby, who’s always quick to help but has her courage tested as she’s faced with tough real-world situations. There’s something about her arc I can really identify with, going in with this belief in a just and benevolent world, only to be exposed to such cruel realities.

Of course, the main selling point is just watching them practice their routines, complemented by some of the great R&B and pop songs and artists of the early 1960s, like the Ronettes, the Contours, Bruce Channel, the Drifters, and Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. I’m not much of a dancer, but I have done musical theater, so I recognize and appreciate the aspect of not just learning the moves, but feeling the rhythm and harmony, so much that it becomes second nature. Grey and Swayze had previously co-starred in “Red Dawn,” and despite not initially getting along, their chemistry really sizzles on the screen; if I have a date and I want to “set the mood,” this is a movie I would put on, as the tender music and intimate cinematography help make it a genuinely sexy film to watch, right down to the climactic routine set to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. The choreographer is Kenny Ortega, a student of Gene Kelly who had already worked on “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and would go on to direct “Newsies,” “Hocus Pocus” and the “High School Musical” trilogy.

Now what can I say about movie aside from Baby and Johnny? While some of the supporting characters have genuine dimension—Jerry Orbach takes the standard role of a disapproving father and makes it believable, Cynthia Rhodes is a versatile Penny, and Wayne Knight has his first credited film role as social director Stan—there are performances that are either awkward or just don’t leave much impact, like Jane Brucker as Lisa or Neal Jones as Johnny’s cousin Billy. I also think the pacing is inconsistent, as there are some shots that hold too long, and the story does succumb to the annoying trope of if everyone would just communicate, the conflict would be resolved in five minutes. But now I want to talk about what most viewers overlook when summing up the story, the reason for Penny’s absence. At the time this movie was set, Roe v. Wade was still 10 years away, and the film itself reportedly lost a sponsorship because of the clear references. It comes across as honest and powerful, and is now considered the “gold standard” for on-screen abortion portrayals, displaying compassion and understanding without blanket judgment. Thank God we’ve never gone back to a time before that! Hahahaha…excuse me while I go scream into a pillow.

So although “Dirty Dancing” has a reputation for being the ultimate chick flick, that kind of hides how much of a secretly smart and genuine movie it really is. Regardless, despite never finishing No. 1 at a weekend box office, it became one of the most popular and successful films of the year, and has made its way into the pop culture, with the dialogue and imagery becoming among the most-recognized of the 1980s. It’s been adapted for stage, Swayze—who passed away in 2009—would cameo in an obscure Cuba-set prequel, there was a much-reviled TV remake in 2017 that starred Abigail Breslin as Baby, and there’s reportedly a sequel in development, with Grey reprising her role. If it ever happens, based on director Jonathan Levine’s portfolio, hopefully the execution is more “50/50” and less “Snatched,” but I’m not holding my breath. This is already a film that I didn’t think I would get into, but in this case, has a unique sort of watchability, maybe a little bumpy at times, but it really sticks the landing.

My rating: 8.5/10