Dirty Dancing
Academy Award × 1·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
What critics thought
Critics in 1987 were genuinely split: some found the romance and choreography irresistible, while others dismissed the plot as formulaic and the storytelling as lazy. Audiences disagreed sharply with the more skeptical reviewers, turning the film into a cultural phenomenon through sheer word-of-mouth, and its reputation has only grown in the decades since — particularly among women, who have made it one of the most rewatched films of its era.
“a metaphor for America in the summer of 1963— orderly, prosperous, bursting with good intentions, a sort of Yiddish-inflected Camelot”
The New York Times
“If the ending of Eleanor Bergstein's script is too neat and inspirational, the rough energy of the film's song and dance does carry one along, past the whispered doubts of better judgment”
Richard Schickel·Time
“tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama, Music, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorEmile Ardolino
StarringJennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston
ComposerJohn Morris
Dirty Dancing
Academy Award × 1·National Film Registry
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
What critics thought
Critics in 1987 were genuinely split: some found the romance and choreography irresistible, while others dismissed the plot as formulaic and the storytelling as lazy. Audiences disagreed sharply with the more skeptical reviewers, turning the film into a cultural phenomenon through sheer word-of-mouth, and its reputation has only grown in the decades since — particularly among women, who have made it one of the most rewatched films of its era.
“a metaphor for America in the summer of 1963— orderly, prosperous, bursting with good intentions, a sort of Yiddish-inflected Camelot”
The New York Times
“If the ending of Eleanor Bergstein's script is too neat and inspirational, the rough energy of the film's song and dance does carry one along, past the whispered doubts of better judgment”
Richard Schickel·Time
“tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama, Music, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorEmile Ardolino
StarringJennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston
ComposerJohn Morris
Rent/Purchase