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Movies / Upcoming / Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing

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Dirty Dancing (1987)

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67 %
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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 source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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No review available.

comment Comment
03/31/04
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

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

Nowhere near as good as its reputation. A cheesy mess, supported only by its nostalgia.

comment Comment
08/09/02
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

I have to admit to feeling some dangerously warm fuzzies for this 1987 movie.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

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

Its attitudes and its controversies are so dated that it feels like the film was made in 1963. And have you tried to watch a teenaged dance movie from 1963 lately?

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Tom Matthews
Tom Matthews
Boxoffice Magazine

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

The movie plays like one long, sad, compromise; it places packaging ahead of ambition.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/10/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

No review available.

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

Some see it as a classic, others wonder why. I fall into the latter category.

comment Comment
08/08/02
Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll
Countingdown.com

Reasonably well-constructed wish-fulfillment girly stuff.

comment Comment
07/25/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.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

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

Against all odds on the night of the Event, she steps up and shows the world that Baby can dance and only pictures this awful gross that much money.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
08/07/07
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Grey validates all the soap opera theatrics that revolve around her

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
12/15/03
Pete Croatto
Pete Croatto
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/03
Edward Havens
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; 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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