"That was the summer we went to Kellerman's..."

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2005)

Delightful coming of age film featuring good acting, wonderful dancing, and a surprisingly well crafted story.
It's the summer of 1963, and the Houseman family - father, Jake (Jerry Orbach), a successful doctor; mother, Marjorie (Kelly Bishop); and daughters Lisa (Jane Brucker), a shallow young woman, obsessed with fashion and finding the right guy to "go all the way with," and Frances (Jennifer Grey), better known as "Baby," a plain Jane, more interested in making the world a better place than in fashion - are off to Kellerman's resort in the mountains. Baby is just about to start college, and Lisa is a little older (although how much isn't specified). Once they arrive at Kellerman's, they are greeted by the owner Max (Jack Weston), and Lisa catches the eye of busboy/bellhop, Robbie (Max Cantor), a med student working there for the summer. Unfortunately for Baby, she is set up with Max's grandson, Neil (Lonny Price), a student at the Cornell School of Management with a higher opinion of himself than seems warranted. After spending her first evening there as an unwilling magician's assistant, Baby takes a walk to get some much needed solitude. She accidentally wanders down to the staff quarters, and ends up helping Billy (Neal Jones) carry watermelon to a staff party. At the party, she meets the dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), to whom she is instantly attracted. Over the next few days, she finds out that Johnny's partner, Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) has gotten pregnant and Robbie is the father. When Baby confronts Robbie, he denies any responsibility for his deed, and shows absolutely no willingness to help out. Baby borrows money from her father to fund Penny's abortion (not telling him what it's for, of course), but when she goes to give it to Penny, she finds out that Penny can only see the doctor on the night that she and Johnny have a big gig at the Sheldrake, another hotel about twenty minutes away. And then Billy comes up with the idea of Baby taking Penny's place. As Baby learns Penny's dance routine, she starts to fall for Johnny. The performance goes well, but Baby and Johnny return to Kellerman's to find that Penny's "abortion" was not performed by a skilled practitioner, and she is in really bad shape. Baby gets her father to tend to Penny, revealing her dealings with the staff, Johnny in particular, to her father, who is understandably upset, and forbids her to have anything to do with them. Baby, of course, has her own ideas, and goes back to visit Johnny that night, intending to apologize for her father's behavior towards Johnny. She ends up spending the night with Johnny. Delighted as she is over her new romance, Baby still has a big problem - how can she tell her father that she loves the man he has forbidden her from seeing? Worse yet, how can she explain to Johnny her need for secrecy. The delicate balance is upset when an ex-lover (Miranda Garrison) of Johnny's accuses him of stealing a wallet, and only Baby can provide an alibi. Should she speak up and help Johnny? Or stay silent and protect herself? Her choice is her first adult decision. What will she choose?
The story is beautifully written, using the resort as a backdrop for showing the disparity between guests and staff, which mimics the class struggle of society itself at the time. Almost all of the major characters grow in some appreciable way by the end of the film. Jake learns that by only observing the appearance of things he can miss the truth behind the appearance. Johnny learns that not all rich people are users, and that there are people who will stand up for him no matter what the personal cost. Baby perhaps learns the most, learning that hard work pays off, that you can find love in the most unexpected places, and that standing up for what - and who - you believe in sometimes requires painful choices, but that doing so is ultimately its own reward. Even Lisa appears to grow. The scene where she comforts Baby and Johnny has been sent away is one of the most touching in the movie. My only real complaints are that Jake's apology to Johnny is a little flat and the ending isn't really that believable, but given the rest of the film, I can forgive both of those things pretty easily.
The dancing is phenomenal. Swayze's early training in dance is put to good use in this film. Rhodes and Grey are equally adept on the dance floor. The dance sequence at the end is amazing - especially the long awaited lift.
The acting was also excellent. The chemistry among the cast creates believable relationships on the screen. Grey is wonderful as Baby, playing the part to perfection. Swayze does equally well with Johnny. Rhodes plays Penny with a complexity that brings her humanity to the forefront. Orbach's concerned father is good, if a little over the top at times. Brucker does a wonderful job of showing Lisa as a ditz who spends most of her time focusing on herself to the exclusion of others, but manages to make her support for her sister at the end both believable and touching. Weston is good as the stuffy, overbearing Max, and Price's Neil is wonderfully annoying. Jones' Billy is a likable, if not overly bright, young man. Even the bit parts were well done.
All in all, a well put together movie that takes you back to the time before America lost its innocence. And a fun one to watch, be it the first time, or the hundred and first.