an all-time 80s feel-good classic by anyone's standards

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2013)

This is the film that catapulted Patrick Swayze to be an international super-star and household name, and rightly so. He was awesome as Johnny Castle, dance teacher and entertainer in an American Holiday camp frequented by a doctor and his family; wife and two girls. One of the girls, Francis "Baby" Houseman, gets caught up with some of the entertainers at the camp and ends up learning to dance at the hands of Swayze. Of course he becomes her first love.
Many of the scenes in the film are so iconic now, as is the music. The film produced two great soundtrack albums, and has been greatly imitated. Baby Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey, found it hard to learn the dance moves, to comic effect. The film is laugh out loud in places by mainly gentle humour, heart, warmth and is about love, loyalty and friendship and with comment on society's differences in class and how you can't judge books by their cover. It's a lovely film, but despite the wonderful dance scenes and great performances by Swayze, Grey and Cynthia Rhodes - a fantastic dancer - but there is also some rather cheesy acting and it's not a perfect film, and hasn't aged that well (also considering that it's set in the early 60s) from the 80s. Despite the flaws, it's a fantastic, entertaining and uplifting film but definitely one for (predominantly) the ladies.