Dirty Dancing (1987)
86%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 6 nominations total
Like its winsome characters, Dirty Dancing uses impressive choreography and the power of song to surmount a series of formidable obstacles
Dirty Dancing is the ultimate summer romance movie that will make you want to dance like nobody’s watching. Sure, the plot might be a bit implausible, but who cares when you have Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s undeniable chemistry and those seductively lit dance sequences? Plus, it’s a powerful morality tale that addresses important issues and has a female main character, which is pretty cool. So put on your dancing shoes and get ready to have the time of your life!
Production Company(ies)
Hecht-Lancaster Productions, Steven Productions,
Distributor
Artisan Entertainment
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Mountain Lake Resort – 115 Hotel Circle, Pembroke, Virginia, USA
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
Year of Release
1987
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo (original release)Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 40m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 25, 1987 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 9, 2003
Genre(s)
Romance/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Jane Brucker, directed by Emile Ardolino, written by Eleanor Bergstein, Romance, Drama, PG-13, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Jason Bailey, Chris Chase, Sarah Crompton, Pauline Kael, Richard Schickel, Jay Boyar, Sezín Koehler, Jason Shawhan, Mike Massie, PJ Nabarro, Rachel Wagner, produced by Linda Gottlieb, Artisan Entertainment, Dirty Dancing, Baby, Johnny Castle, Jake Houseman, Penny Johnson, Max Kellerman, Lisa Houseman
Worldwide gross: $214,577,242
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $572,757,057
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 239
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 62,459,875
US/Canada gross: $64,577,242
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $172,371,826
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 443
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,900,000
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $10,410,016
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 942
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $16,015,409
Production budget ranking: 1,484
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,624,298
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $548,117,350
ROI to date (est.): 2,225%
ROI ranking: 45
Patrick Swayze – Johnny Castle
Jerry Orbach – Jake Houseman
Cynthia Rhodes – Penny Johnson
Jack Weston – Max Kellerman
Jane Brucker – Lisa Houseman
Director(s)
Emile Ardolino
Writer(s)
Eleanor Bergstein
Producer(s)
Linda Gottlieb
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
11 wins & 6 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (72) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (22)
It’s a movie best seen through the hazy amber filter of ’80s nostalgia, and if you’re watching it without those rose-colored glasses on, God help you.
May 27, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
I loved this movie. It seems to dream itself, as it tells the story of a young girl who comes alive in the summer of 1963.
August 20, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
Chris Chase
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
What seems an enjoyable piece of fluff about a summer camp romance is, in its own quiet way, a powerful morality tale.
December 18, 2014
Sarah Crompton
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The dancing here brings out the sensual dreaminess of the songs. Dirty Dancing — what a great title! — is such a bubbleheaded, retro vision of growing up in the sixties (or any other time) that you go out of the theatre giggling happily.
May 6, 2013
Pauline Kael
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
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.
March 25, 2013
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Although the plot is sometimes implausible, the movie’s music, dancing and romantic spirit carry a lot of it. In addition, Dirty Dancing has the virtues of a female main character (a bit unusual in a coming-of-age movie) and an interesting setting.
March 25, 2013
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Johnny Castle might be featured as the romantic hero of ‘Dirty Dancing’. But Baby’s father Dr. Houseman is the actual hero of the story, and his behavior is something in the movie that remains ahead of its time.
May 23, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Sezín Koehler
Black Girl Nerds
Say what you will about its rough-around-the-edges qualities – this movie is a classic that endures because it addresses a lot of important issues.
September 10, 2021
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene
Though the premise is simple and the bulk of the film is comprised of montages, there’s an undeniable effort put into the abundance of romantic scenarios.
March 24, 2021 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The film exists in the main for a handful of seductively lit and framed dance sequences that aestheticise Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s bodies and physical chemistry.
August 8, 2020 | Rating: 2/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
A great coming of age story that takes on deeper themes than given credit for with great chemistry between the leads
June 19, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Rachel Wagner
Rachel’s Reviews (YouTube)
Dirty Dancing is dull and charmless. The initial curiosity turns into disappointment and the only memorable aspect is the effort of the protagonist Jennifer Grey. [Full Review in Spanish]
April 1, 2020
Ángel Luis Inurria
El Pais (Spain)…
Plot
In 1963, Frances “Baby” Houseman, a sweet daddy’s girl, goes with her family to a resort in upstate New York’s Catskill Mountains. Baby has grown up in privileged surroundings and all expect her to go on to college, join the Peace Corps and save the world before marrying a doctor, just like her father. Unexpectedly, Baby becomes infatuated with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle, a man whose background is vastly different from her own. Baby lies to her father to get money to pay for an illegal abortion for Johnny’s dance partner. She then fills in as Johnny’s dance partner and it is as he is teaching her the dance routine that they fall in love. It all comes apart when Johnny’s friend falls seriously ill after her abortion and Baby gets her father, who saves the girl’s life. He then learns what Baby has been up to, who with and worse, that he funded the illegal abortion. He bans his daughter from any further association with “those people”. In the first deliberately willful action of her life, Baby later sneaks out to see Johnny, ostensibly to apologize for her father’s rudeness, and ends up consummating her relationship with Johnny. A jealous fellow vacationer sees Baby sneaking out of Johnny’s bungalow the next morning, and in an act of retribution, tells management that he is responsible for a theft the evening before, knowing he would not furnish his real whereabouts.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Dirty Dancing.
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