One of the most talked-about and hyped up chick flicks of all time, Dirty Dancing fits into the mold of 80s coming-of-age films but also establishes itself alongside Flashdance and Footloose as one of the Big Three 80s dance movies. Aside from the music and dancing, though, this movie does very little to distinguish itself from other mediocre teenage romances.After years of telling my wife that I’d watch it someday, that someday finally came. Dirty Dancing isn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but outside of the dancing and killer soundtrack, the film is hardly remarkable and very little of it is even memorable.
Jennifer Grey stars as Frances “Baby” Houseman, a 17-year old on the verge of womanhood. Set in 1963, Baby and her family head to a well-to-do resort in upstate New York to mingle with other rich folk and ignoring the problems of the world. The hoity-toity young lass finds herself falling in love with the working class dance instructor at the resort, causing her to question some of the things she’s been raised to believe.
Hardly an original concept, this tale of forbidden love is enhanced by the film’s soundtrack. Instead of just using the soundtrack as incidental music, the songs heard throughout the movie are more often than not coming through somebody’s radio or record player. For this, Dirty Dancing rises above other 80s flicks that merely included radio-friendly songs as a means of being hip and pushing soundtrack sales numbers.
Using some very popular songs and some classics that had been largely forgotten about, Dirty Dancing breaks away from most of the 80s teen and chick flick pack through its music and accompanying choreography. Baby is introduced to the world of “dirty dancing” through her new working class friends. Some of the dancing is raunchy but for the most part it’s just kids having wild fun listening to the hot new rock ‘n’ roll sounds.
There is some drama that causes Baby to get pulled further into the life of her new friends and ever closer to dance instructor Johnny (played by Patrick Swayze, as if I had to tell you). Things get steamy as Baby undergoes a sexual awakening. The only problem I had with all this is that Baby is a minor. Sure, she’s 17 and that’s the age of consent in some states, but sexually liberating minors always makes me cringe a little. It’s easy to forget Baby’s age, as Jennifer Grey was 26 when the film was made. It’s funny how most movies about teens have casts full of twentysomethings.
In the end, Dirty Dancing turns out to be on the high end of the chick flick spectrum. Then again, that only gets you so far. It’s, as I like to say, mostly harmless as a film. For guys out there who may be dreading it- don’t. It’s really not that bad. It’s not fantastic, but it’s not that bad. Is it worth all the spoofs, jokes and clichés that have emanated from it? Probably. Is it going to make you want to want to tear up your Man Card? That depends on your personality.
After watching Dirty Dancing, my Man Card is intact. It’s an easy watch for the girls and easy to get through for the guys. You can do better in the realm of chick flicks (though that would mean delving into actual romance films) but you could certainly do a lot worse.
RATING: 3.25 out of 5
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