Dirty Dancing
An iconic 80s movie; I know it was referenced in Full House and Dean even knows it in Supernatural. It stars Jennifer Grey as Baby (her most famous role, she was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars in 2010), Patrick Swayze (tragically passed away in 2009, also known for Ghost [I have not seen that movie], Orry Main in North and South [the mini-series based on a Civil War triology], The Outsiders, and Tiger Warsaw [interestingly, filmed at my church and in my hometown]) as Johnny Castle, Jerry Orbach (passed away in 2004, best known for Law and Order, and the voice of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast [I still cannot hear it; he does very good French accent]) as the father, and Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls) as the mother. And Kenny Ortega (Newsies, which we will soon be visiting, and High School Musical) choreographed.
Set in the summer of 1963, before the Beatles came to America, before JFK was assassinated, a wealthy family vacations at a resort in the Catskills Mountains. The youngest daughter is nicknamed “Baby.” Though she plans on going into the Peace Corps, it’s her summer at the resort that truly opens her eyes. Her father is pleased to send her off with the owner’s grandson, who seems like a respectable young man. But Baby soon meets the staff and notes a difference between the wait staff, who are instructed to show the young ladies there a good time, and the instructors, who indulge in “dirty dancing.” Johnny Castle catches her eye.
When Johnny’s dance partner, Penny ends up in trouble (growing up, I never noticed the fact that she was pregnant and subsequently gets an abortion), Baby offers to help. She gets the money off of her father and lets Johnny teach her to dance (Patrick Swayze was a trained dancer and even appeared on Broadway; he and Jennifer Grey also did not get along on the shoot). Baby ends up in bad grace with her father when she has to get his help to fix Penny’s botched operation. But she has fallen in love with Johnny and continues her relationship with him in secret.
Baby’s older sister, Lisa, has started seeing one of the waiters, Robbie, who is actually the one who got Penny pregnant and left her. But when Lisa goes to sleep with Robbie, she finds another woman in his bed. That same woman discovers Baby leaving Johnny’s room the e=next morning and reports him a thief, who stole her husband’s wallet. Baby backs up Johnny’s alibi and reveals her relationship. Johnny is still fired for sleeping with her and is forced to leave. But Baby made Johnny believe in good people again. However, he returns for the final dance of the season, tells her father “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” and dances the final number with her.
It’s a fairly simple storyline, but full of nuances. Like Baby growing out of her nickname. She ends the movie not as naive as she started. It demonstrates classism; the difference between the guests and the waiters and the staff. Baby’s doctor father looks down on Johnny the entire film, until the end when Robbie accidentally reveals his indiscretion. (Her father had thought Johnny had gotten Penny in trouble). The owner’s grandson treats Johnny like an idiot.
There are plenty of steamy scenes, which makes it a perfect romance and I love how the music was worked in. The Baby scene was a bit funny. And no one can forget the ending with Time of My Life and the big lift; it’s my favorite part of the film. And Patrick Swayze is rather good looking here.
Next Time: Collection of Rom Coms #1
Dreamer in the Mirror 