I saw Dirty Dancing (1987) about a week ago at my University as part of my degree. I thought I’d review it because it made me feel very cheerful afterwards. I consider Dirty Dancing more of a classic than 1980s cheese. Director Emile Ardolino expresses lots of energy and enthusiasm in the film which I found quite inspiring. It is a very theatrical film with lots of interesting dances which will keep you gripped. The Final Dance has lots of beautiful camera shots that make you want more.
The story is based around Johnny Castle (actor Patrick Swayze) who is a dance teacher and he falls in love with Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (actress Jennifer Grey). She lies to her father about wanting money for an illegal abortion. She then becomes a teacher and she starts later being oming more of an independent woman. The relationship between ‘Baby’ and Johnny do suffer some problems. ‘Baby’s’ father for example hated the fact that she lied to him about why she wanted money. The Final Dance scene in the end however made you feel like none of those things mattered. It was just a brief distraction from the dancing and music.
The soundtrack of Dirty Dancing called Time of My Life was what I remembered most about the film. The final dance at the end had the soundtrack and I found that moment very memorable and it got stuck in my head. Time of My Life is sung by a male and a female which represents Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the film. The two characters find love through dancing and through their personalities. There is indications that Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman likes Johnny not only through his talent Castle but also because of his muscles and strength. There is a lot of eroticism in this film not only between Swayze and Grey but from other situations such as when Swayze was dancing with Penny Johnson (actress Cynthia Rhodes). Dirty Dancing is very much aimed at a female audience because of themes such as love and dancing which are suited more for females.
Dirty Dancing is also aimed at teenage girls. Jennifer Grey acts very young and innocent and she represents the youth of the time and their problems. There was a very strange scene in the film where someone was chasing someone else in the dark and Patrick Swayze says something like ‘Don’t worry baby, sometimes in life bad things can happen’ in a very patronising tone. She is also referred to as ‘baby’ throughout the film which emphasises again her youth and innocence. Patrick Swayze is the kind of man that young teenagers would dream about however because of his muscles and his charisma.
Overall I thought that Dirty Dancing was a very fun, romantic and stylistic film which I think many people would enjoy. It has many energetic moments and of gentleness and eroticism. I would recommend this film because it is fun and it will cheer you up. I am going to give it 6/10 because it made me feel good. I would have given it 5/10 otherwise however.
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