Dirty Dancing all the way to the bank (Dirty Dancing (DVD))

Member Name: bilbob20

Product:	Dirty Dancing (DVD)
Date:	23/01/08 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A terrific score and some great dance sequences

Disadvantages: Some clunky scripts and a waste of supporting cast

The phenomenom of Dirty Dancing has always been a precarious one. Visually, it hasn't aged well, and it didn't even look that great when it was first released. But for some reason, it has taken on a legendary status that may well come close to matching the success of Grease. Perhaps its the exceptional soundtrack, or maybe its just the simple age old tale of forbidden love that appeals to people across the board. Whatever the source of its success, it recently got a well documented re-release complete with a mass of extra's and a 20th anniversary celebratory soundtrack.

When Baby attends a family vacation at Kellermonts Holiday Camp, she meets dance teacher Johnny, who doubles as the company's evening entertainment. Baby can barely dance, but when she offers to step in for Johnny's sick dance partner, she has only a short time to find her feet and learn the moves. What starts as a favour soon becomes a labour of love, as Baby falls in love for the first time, and Johnny discovers that not everybody in the world is out for themselves. However, after Johnny is accused of theft, and fired from his job, Baby tries to convince her parents and everybody around her that he is innocent. This leads to revelations and a dance finale which makes everybody re-assess themselves and the people they thought they knew.

This is a traditional love story entwined with a musical score to add something extra to the story. Baby is the lead character who proves to be the moral compass of the story. Everybody around her is either corrupt or blinded by cynisism and suspicion. What she does is bring together people from two different sides of the fence and help them understand each other better. In that respect the story is simplistic and brilliant. Where it fails is a sometimes clunky script with varying performances from an only reasonably good cast. Patrick Swayze is the hero of the film Johnny, and I'm sure my mother wasn't the only woman in the world who swooned as he dragged Baby to her feet for one last dance. Swayze sizzles on the screen, and his dance moves are completely believable. Thankfully, he and Jennifer Grey have great screen chemistry, although she is only adequate as Baby. Her lack of presence might well explain why she has done very little since. Jerry Orbach is also decent in his role as Baby's outraged father. The rest of the cast are merely serviceable.

Emile Ardolino has created a terrific movie, that seems to have struck gold with all ages. The director done a great job with the leading actors, and adding something to whats otherwise a pedestrian script. A notable mention should also go to the choice of music which brings much of the film to life. The biggest hit was (I've had) The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, which charted in the UK Top 10 on two different ocassions. This song adds to the terrific atmosphere of the final dance number, and its almost impossible to imagine that any other song would have worked for it. But mentions must also go to She's Like The Wind, Overload and Hungry Eyes, all of which lend to the mood of the film, and help create memorable dance sequences throughout the film. Its a great mixture of classic tunes and new songs written specifically for the film.

The recent re-release came complete with a new 2 disc DVD and a seperate 2 disc CD. The CD features all of the songs in order of their presence in the film, as well as a fun karaoke disc for you wanna-be singers out there. The documentary's available on the 2 disc DVD celebrates the phenomenon of Dirty Dancing and brings up bang up to date with the cast. Sadly Emile Ardolino died 15 years ago, so is unable to contribute anything new to the celebrations. But I'm sure he must have been very proud of creating a film that appeals to just about all ages from little girls to grandparents.

Summary: Dirty Dancing defined dance and brought it to a new audience