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Movies / Upcoming / Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing

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Dirty Dancing (1987)

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Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:29

Rotten:14

Average Rating:5.9/10

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Headstrong 17-year-old Baby Houseman hardly expects her family's usual summer vacation in the Catskills to be momentous. But then Baby spies Johnny Castle, the resort's dance instructor from the... Headstrong 17-year-old Baby Houseman hardly expects her family's usual summer vacation in the Catskills to be momentous. But then Baby spies Johnny Castle, the resort's dance instructor from the wrong side of the tracks. Johnny's facing a crisis: his dance partner and friend, Penny, is pregnant and has reluctantly decided to get an abortion. This leaves Johnny a solo act -- until Baby agrees to take Penny's place. She has to learn how to dance first, however, and as Johnny teaches her the choreography's sexy, seductive moves, the two fall in love. But Baby's father believes that Johnny is the creep who got Penny pregnant, and he furiously orders Baby to end the relationship. Baby knows that Johnny's innocent -- and with her feisty idealism and his dance talent, the two will prove to Baby's father that their love is worth fighting for. [More]

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Kelly Bishop, Lonny Price, Max Cantor, Neal Jones, Miranda Garrison, Garry Goodrow, Wayne Knight

Director: Emile Ardolino

Director: Emile Ardolino
Composer: John Morris
Producer: Linda Gottlieb, Eleanor Bergstein

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Dirty Dancing

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The dance finale between Gray and Swayze, although an obvious crowd-pleaser, is performed to a contemporary song clearly intended for the charts, which blows the period feel right off the dance floor.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 4 Comments
02/12/08
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film's saving grace is that fully a third of the film has the actors dancing rather than talking.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

The dancing is pretty great.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
San Francisco Examiner

Teenage titillation for girls, circa 1963.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/12/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Chick flicks have hardly been bettered.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/03/03
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC

No review available.

comment Comment
07/01/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
New Times

The film’s easy charm, infectious soundtrack and tidy choreography should still win over new fans as well as old.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
10/18/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

If you can suspend your disbelief and go without substantial characters or innovative plot elements, you will walk away feeling pretty good.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Endlessly quotable, strangely fascinating and immensely charming.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/09/07
Caroline Westbrook
Caroline Westbrook
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
10/22/06
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/01/08
David Kaplan
David Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/03
Edward Havens
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com

Guilty pleasure: Fluffy, schmaltzy and predicatble, this coming of age tale, set at a turing point of American culture, is extremely enjoyable due to erotic dancing and Oscar-winning tunes (just disregard the stereotypes and cliches).

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/17/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Creatively covers one girl's coming of age and has more foot tappin' fervor since any flick since "Saturday Night Fever."

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/10/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

No review available.

comment Comment
02/17/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Turned out to be one of those films that had something for everyone.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Abysmal pre-teen trash

comment Comment
12/31/04
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

While the music on the soundtrack is predictably overloud, the period detail is refreshingly soft-pedaled.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/12/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Dirty Dancing

September 14, 2009: Patrick Swayze: 1952-2009
Patrick Swayze, the versatile actor who starred in some of the biggest Hollywood hits of the late 1980s and early 1990s, died Sept. 14 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He... More...

August 19, 2009: Lionsgate Limbers Up for More Dirty Dancing Opens in new window
Time to get back in your corner, Baby -- Lionsgate seems to be prepping a "Dirty Dancing" remake. More...

March 07, 2008: Patrick Swayze Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer
Patrick Swayze, star of such hit films as Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and Road House, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. More...

February 13, 2008: Total Recall: It's a Dance Dance Revolution
Audiences have been historically dismissive of all the critical contempt, pushing dozens of fancy-footed extravaganzas to the upper reaches of the box-office charts. For this... More...

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