Dirty Dancing

An interesting 1980s attempt to recreate 1950s-styled rebel drama as a period piece. It's a tale of forbidden love, rebellion, backyard abortions and gigolos, and in this sense it's trying to show us the sordid reality of the early 1960s. Dirty Dancing isn't really completely successful at this though, it's nostalgic and lurid 1980s production values seem to steer it more towards pure romance territory, and Patrick Swayze's subsequent superstardom can testify to this.

Dirty Dancing has all the makings of a great chick flick... uncoordinated ugly duckling from the right side of the tracks (Jennifer Grey) has a passionate summer fling where she teaches the resident bad boy (Swayze) the power of self-respect. Said bad boy is named Jimmy, of course, and he's too much of a street-kid to be accepted as good news by anyone. The two also start up a love-hate relationship where they learn from each other and become better people for it. Oh, and there's dancing - lots of it. So the film's status as one of the most popular romance films of the last 30 years shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Sadly, Jennifer Grey never achieved the level of fame that Swayze enjoyed. Shortly after this film she had plastic surgery to change the shape of her nose (her most defining feature) and became so unrecognisable as a result that the studios saw little point in trying to capitalise on the recognition she had gained from Dirty Dancing.

Would I recommend this film? It's not really my cup of tea, I tend to like my romances to be a bit funnier or to have a bit more depth. I can recognise the factors that make this film so iconic though, so I guess it's worth a watch if you're in the mood for a mix of 60s and 80s nostalgia.

DIRECTOR: Emile Ardolini
WRITER/SOURCE: Eleanor Bergstein
KEY ACTORS: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Wayne Knight, Jane Brucker, Kelly Bishop

RELATED TEXTS:
- Followed by a prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, which was basically just a remake with all new characters. Patrick Swayze has a weird cameo in it though.
- Dirty Dancing was also a smash-hit stage show that ran from 2004 to 2009.
- For other 80s dance films, see Flashdance, Footloose, Beat Street, Breakin, Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo, Body Rock and, to a lesser extent, Quicksilver.
- Also see Lambada and it's ripoff, The Forbidden Dance.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - won Best Original Song ('I've Had the Time of My Life')
Golden Globes - won Best Original Song ('I've Had the Time of My Life'). Also nominated for Best Film (Comedy/Musical), Best Actor - Comedy/Musical (Patrick Swayze) and Best Actress - Comedy/Musical (Jennifer Grey).
Independent Spirit Awards - won Best First Feature.