Film Reviews

Dirty Dancing

• Rating:
• Director: Emile Ardolino
• Starring: Jennifer Grey
• Details: US / 100mins / 12A

For those of you who have never met a woman, the plot centres around shy 'Baby' (Grey), expecting a boring holiday with her family during a hot and steamy summer in an American holiday camp in the 1960s. When bad boy Johnny (broody, prone to sporadic pensiveness and played by Swayze) loses his dancing partner after a back street abortion, Baby steps in to cover for her until she's ready to bust a move again. Right: first and foremost, this is an atrocious film, in terms of plot, dialogue and the general fundamentals of filmmaking. It's a mess, with the cheese factor notched up to eleven. However, it's also an endearing coming-of-age story that, despite its many deep flaws, still manages to charm, even twenty years after it first hit cinemas. Guys generally don't really get the obsession with this film - pretty much the same way their significant other probably doesn't really get her boyfriend quoting lines from Top Gun, or crying (in a bad way) at The Matrix sequels - these are the things that invariably make men men, and women women. If there could be two reasons for Dirty Dancing's extraordinary success, one would be Mr. Swayze's snake-like hips; the other would be the soundtrack (sold 37 million copies at the last count) which captures the mood of the proceedings perfectly, and will still have you tapping along to the dance numbers, as well as soundtracking the growing sexual tension between Baby and Johnny as her dancing improves. While there are some aforementioned cringeworthy moments (the whole abortion sub-plot), there is always a dance montage around the corner to distract you from the sometimes exasperating supporting characters and somewhat heavy-handed metaphors (the loss of innocence you say - well, duh). So, bad, then - but entertainingly bad, nonetheless.

Review by Mike Sheridan