We had a Double Feature at the Paramount Theater last night. Two 1980s era musicals about dancing. Not to put too fine a point on it, the line for the ladies room was extremely long, for the gentlemen, not so much.
Dirty Dancing
I saw this film when it originally came out in 1987 and I remember enjoying it but not particularly embracing it. I think I have seen it once since then, but more that twenty years ago, again, with some appreciation but not necessarily enthusiasm. After last night’s screening however, I think I can say I am a fan. Maybe it was the passage of time, the fact that I was seeing it with my daughter, or simply the audience enthusiasm that became contagious that converted me. This is a very well made movie. It may be a little hokey, but all of that hoke works the way it is supposed to.
Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey are terrific in the movie. He is a dynamic dancer with looks that can make a female audience member swoon, and she is fresh and authentic and has the dramatic chops for the part that she is playing. So what that the story is the well worn plot path of two people from different worlds falling in love. They get to do so against a great soundtrack, with a nostalgia painted background and dance while it happens.
Jerry Orbach as Baby’s (Grey) Father, manages to create the kind of father figure who remains sympathetic in spite of his opposition to the pairing. His interjection into the story because of a medical emergency seems right, after all he is a doctor, and the confusion about what is happening was understandable. The third person perspective the audience has allows us to identify with all the characters, and also applaud when the indifferent villain of the piece gets his comeuppance, both at the hands of Johnny (Swayze) and Baby’s Dad.
The audience last night filled the Paramount with cheers, catcalls and swoon filled ahhhs, as Baby and Johnny come together. The humorous courtship through a crash course in mambo dance training was just the ticket for the blossoming romance. Little expressions on the faces of the two lovers, or a gesture from one to another, elicited a tickled response from the audience. I had not remembered how long the dance sequence in the employees quarters was near the start of the story, but it was worth it.
In spite of a serious abortion subplot, most people will remember this as a light romance with charismatic actors who had great on screen chemistry. I have read that Swayze and Grey had some personal clashes but managed to successfully work together in making the movie. From watching them in the film, it is hard to believe they frequently did not get along. Choose the fantasy.
The second film had lost nearly a third of the audience but none of the enthusiasm.
Footloose
Although not as well constructed as “Dirty Dancing”, “Footloose” manages to be just as entertaining, with it’s own sense of purpose as well. No doubt there are repressive communities like the one imagined here, but the stereotypes are a little more jarring in comparison to the first movie. This was a star making turn for Kevin Bacon, who is still in demand as an actor, forty years later (He appears in “Maxxxine” which I will be seeing later today).
The dance sequences in “Dirty Dancing” grow out of the story setting, with dancers at a Catskills resort. Here, there have to be invented moments which will allow for some of the dance moves to be demonstrated. The audience approved of the moves in Bacon’s warehouse solo dance scene, although those approving cheers were frequently preceded by laughter at the set up. Regardless, I think I will have to agree with Peter Quill:
Peter Quill: on my planet, we have a legend about people like you. It’s called Footloose. And in it, a great hero, named Kevin Bacon, teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that, dancing, well, is the greatest thing there is.
As much as the dancing is about Kevin Bacon, most of the drama is about Lori Singer. I wasn’t convinced by her relationship with Bacon’s Ren, but she does hit the mark with her contentious but still loving relationship with her father played by John Lithgow. Reverend Moore is trying to protect his whole congregation, in an attempt to compensate for the loss of his son, and the pain he feels is balanced by his sincerity. When he snaps and slaps his daughter Ariel, it is a shocking moment that brings uncomfortable realism to an otherwise light weight fantasy film.
The “Footloose” soundtrack is filled with original compositions that were co-written by the screenwriter, Dean Pitchford. He has eight credited songs in the film, songs that he worked on with the likes of Kenny Loggins, Jim Steinman, Sammy Hagar, and Eric Carmen. It has a very different feel than the 60s needle drops of the other film on this double bill. The scene where Ren plays “chicken” on a tractor, gets the over the top Steinman treatment and it is a perfect fit of grandly over the top song with ridiculous scenario. “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” is a comic gem in the spot that it is used. Overall, the audience was thrilled.
I’m inclined to accept this summary.
Peter Quill: The Avengers?
Thor: The Earth’s mightiest heroes.
Mantis: Like Kevin Bacon?
Thor: He may be on the team. I don’t know, I haven’t been there in a while.
Kirkham A Movie A Day 