An absolute classic with this magic aura around it making it unmissable

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2007)

Dirty Dancing is one of my favorite movies of all time...I'm not afraid to admit it, watch it, LOVE IT...and I'm straight!! Dirty Dancing is one of the fastest growing classics of all time now twenty years after it's original release. It seems like almost everyone has seen it, quoted it, talked about it, know of it...it's quite simply magical. The film isn't really BRILLIANT, it's not breath taking in the traditional sense of the word, it's not feat of acting or story so what exactly makes it so incredible?? Magic. Chemistry. The sexiest movie of all time without even a hint of nudity, extreme language, or gratuitous sex. It's just like being dropped into your own summer of love so to speak. It's a coming of age story, a moralistic lesson in standing up, speaking your mind, and helping others against all costs and all the while learning about yourself and becoming an adult. It's simple to see that writer and co-producer Eleanor Bergstein passionately wrote on her own experiences and has a very passionate and romantic mind set when she writes. The characters are almost very shallow and yet you become completely entangled in their lives and you won't ever forget Baby and Johnny Castle.
Jennifer Grey headlines the cast as seventeen year old Frances 'Baby' Houseman. Grey is beautiful and sexy but in this very withdrawn, quiet way. It's not overwhelming beauty or screen presence but something very subtle about her. (Grey was actually 27 when she portrayed this role.) This will be (somewhat unfortunately) Grey's greatest role that she will forever be immortalized for. And then Mr. Patrick Swayze. I am a huge Swayze fan and will forever be waiting for his come back to the big screen. He is multi-talented and a great presence and has had some great roles but I'm not sure any compare to the macho, steaming hot, rhythm dancer Johnny Castle. Swayze is just the exact definition of macho but a dancer which seems like an oxy-moron but it's not because he made dancing macho!! He looks incredible doing it, the man is a master on his feet and in the same breath can knock scum bag waiter Robby's block off. Swayze was brilliant. They could not have cast a better actor for this part. The two of them together is really the point of magic. Grey and Swayze are just jaw dropping in this love hate, intense passionate incredibly sexy affair that they have. When they dance together you just can't take your eyes off of them. The supporting cast are almost as important as the main cast because there is just something so incredible about this cast. First of all the late Jerry Orbach is really something as Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby's father. He really has a great role and is a significant player in the film. Cynthia Rhodes shines as dancer Penny Johnson who finds herself pregnant and alone and scared with only Johnny to turn to. Jack Weston as the caring but firm owner of the Kellerman's hideaway that they stay at is terrific, and Jane Brucker as the older sister of Baby far more concerned with menial things like her appearance and personality and her relationship with Robby the waiter. Max Cantor is downright slimy as the womanizer Robby who gets Penny in trouble and then moves on to Lisa Houseman. These are just a few of the really stand out supporting roles in Dirty Dancing.
You just simply won't find choreography that stuns like Dirty Dancing whether it's the crazy kids alone in their compound Dirty Dancing or whether it's Baby and Johnny on stage, or the final scene dancing at Kellerman's...even if you're not a fan of dancing you can't help but stare in awe. Then you have the romance and the music...I could write an entire review on the music. Dirty Dancing has some of the best musical montages in history including my personal all time favorite and one of my all time favorite moments in movie history, the 'Hungry Eyes' sang by Eric Carmen montage where Baby learns to dance. I could watch that scene over and over and over again. Dirty Dancing is a hard film to explain because there isn't anything else like it. They've tried to repeat the success with a short lived TV Series (which I would kill to see) and a sequel: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights which was average in every sense of the word. The only thing that can be said is that there was a magic where everything fell into place...the cast, the music, the setting, the story, the famous lines: "I carried a Watermelon?" "Nobody puts baby in a corner." "...most of all I'm afraid of walking out of here and never feeling again the way I feel when I'm with you." If you haven't seen this film...you're downright crazy because it's brilliant and an instant classic forever in my top 5 of all time. 10/10