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.
"First dance. First love. The time of your life."
Top Billed Cast
Jennifer Grey
Baby Houseman
Patrick Swayze
Johnny Castle
Jerry Orbach
Jake Houseman
Cynthia Rhodes
Penny Johnson
Jack Weston
Max Kellerman
Jane Brucker
Lisa Houseman
Kelly Bishop
Marjorie Houseman
Lonny Price
Neil Kellerman
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
T talisencrwVerified TMDB Critic
2016-08-14
This was schmaltzy but decent and could have been a lot worse. Normally I run from this sort of film like the plague but Patrick Swayze's recent death and me greatly enjoying 'Point Break' recently made me want to check out another one of his finest roles ('Ghost' and 'Road House' will have to wait, methinks.). When I got my first DJ-ing job, working the night shift at the now-defunct K-102 FM in Woodstock as a teenager, I often received calls asking for any of the three hit songs from its stellar and nostalgia-wringing soundtrack: Eric Carmen's 'Hungry Eyes', Swayze's own 'She's Like the Wind...
W WuchakVerified TMDB Critic
2018-07-28
Entertaining hit with lush Appalachian locations, but the writing doesn't respect the intelligence of the viewer
RELEASED IN 1987 and directed by Emile Ardolino, "Dirty Dancing" stars Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle, a working-class dance instructor at a mountain resort in the Catskills in 1963. Jennifer Grey costars as "Baby," the 17-year-old daughter of an affluent Jewish doctor vacationing at the resort. She takes the place of Johnny's dance partner after his partner gets pregnant, albeit not by Johnny. Baby naturally develops a crush.
This was the hit romantic drama of 1987, but it...
T testrVerified TMDB Critic
2022-07-12
A pretty simplistic film with a plot that's more of an excuse to show dance scenes and an extremely surface level handling of the issues of gender and class that it raises, but it's pretty cute and also I'm bisexual so I like it anyway....
A Andre GonzalesVerified TMDB Critic
2023-06-25
An ok movie. A lot of cheesy parts that I didn't like. I did like the dancing and the love story. I guess it was better at that time....
R r96skVerified TMDB Critic
2024-01-28
Pretty iconic.
Not sure how I hadn't logged this until now, given it's a film I watched quite a bit growing up due to it being my mum's favourite movie. Better late than never! <em>'Dirty Dancing'</em> is entertaining - cheesy, but entertaining. What helps is the ace soundtrack, which culminates with the classic <em>'(I've Had) The Time of My Life'</em> scene.
The film flies through its 100-minute run time and features super chemistry between leads Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, two who give strong performances. Jerry Orbach (Just me confusing him with Jonathan Hyde? Probably.) is goo...
