Touches You

Don't Believe the Hype

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I love this movie. It's cute, fun, romantic, good-hearted, funny, and overall a great film. Jennifer Grey is incredibly adorable in the weirdest way possible and her character as an endlessly motivated do-gooder is New York perfect character. Unlike Grease or other films, she doesn't change into the bag girl and get the guy by giving up her true identity. Rather, she fights for what's right, accepts tough changes, comes clean with her father, and tastes a bit of the wild side from secretly dancing, romancing, and... well taking her father's money for abortion without his knowing (and not her abortion). If anything she changes for the better as she breaks out of her shell, lives more, and stays true to herself and her character. Also, the dancing and music in this film are incredible. I love the time period, the atmosphere, the soundtrack, and everything about this film. I'd love to revisit it just to relive it and be part of its world again.

Watched this movie a million times and I still love it. A real classic movie with real actors with real class and chemistry unlike most modern day movies. And an all time classic. Gotta love the end dance though.

When I first saw Dirty Dancing years ago, I was stunned by how much of it I recognized from my past and how true it rang for me. Nobody except John Sayles (and later the authors of Good Will Hunting) had ever brought a time and a place so familiar to me so alive on the screen before. It was all there - the Ivy league protocol and manners (I went to Cornell, like Neil), the resort's silly entertainment, the lodge and cabins, the Houseman's table manners - everything was just as I remembered, INCLUDING the presence of other people that we werent really "suppose" to associate with as much. At least not invite them to dinner anyway, unless they were perhaps courageous bums like Jack Dawson in Titanic, or maybe....just maybe......handsome and talented dancers? Anyway, but thats just the set up. Author Eleanor Bergstein knew the era well and depicted it with stunning accuracy and brutal honesty. But the real story is about dancing and the sexual awakening of an innocent young girl, Baby Houseman. In that role, Jennifer Grey was perfect, and the transformation she undergoes throughout the film never strains credibility nor seems contrived or forced. Not an easy feat considering how much she was intent on growing up that summer.Other cast members contributed mightily to this classic. Baby's parents projected just the right mix of parental authority and love for their daughter, an essential ingredient throughout. Meanwhile, well educated Neil and Robbie were superb as the cocky nerd and womanizing cad, especially when contrasted with Johnny. And I especially loved Baby's relationship with Penny and how Penny ultimately came to respect her after treating her like trash in the beginning. Last but not least, Patrick Swayze was magnanimous - combining raw power and sexuality with vulnerability and a soft heart, I couldn't imagine the movie without him.Finally, the music and dance was absolutely essential to the success of this film. The dance needed to be sexualized as it was important to the plot, but it never crossed the line into bad taste or vulgarity. The musical choices were all superb, and the closing dance scene is one of Hollywoods most memorable. All in all, I never stop enjoying this movie, and expect to see it again and again periodically for the nostalia and memories it never fails to conjure up.

This movie endures the test of time, and remains a classic. Dirty Dancing, a movie about a girl named Baby vacationing at a Catskill Mountains Resort, is a fantastic movie. The music is amazing on its own, let alone the amazing dance sequences to go along with it. The story is about Baby growing up and falling in love for the first time. And as a result, her relationships with the people closest to her have to evolve and change – as everyone is forced to confront their prejudices and assumptions. It's a perfect coming of age story