Review: ABC's DIRTY DANCING Remake: The Good, The Bad, and The Johnny
The original Dirty Dancing is a favorite movie to women of all ages. The magic of the film was created by the music, the spark between Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze, and of course, the dancing. It was a movie we watched when we were young, fantasizing about growing up and falling in love, and we watch it now that we're grown and remember our first loves and those magic summers of our youth.
Remaking a movie so iconic is a big risk, so I watched this ABC remake with a grain of salt. I knew it wouldn't be the Dirty Dancing of my youth, but I wanted to see what it had to offer. Here's the lowdown.
The cast: Abigail Breslin (Signs, Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland) as Baby Houseman was a perfect fit. She's cute and youthful. She played the naive and inexperienced, yet intelligent Baby really well. I enjoyed watching her.
Colt Prattes as Johnny Castle was... not my favorite. His acting is fine, he's in amazing shape, he can dance, but I couldn't help myself from comparing him to Patrick Swayze. Swayze was just so handsome and masculine and could just draw you in so easily. This guy is like a ripped, slightly inflated version of Ben Stiller or Jerry Seinfeld. Not so cute. Not so enigmatic.
Penny was played by Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, who generally irritates me, but she played a sweet and understated Penny, exactly as she should have.
Debra Messing (Will and Grace), Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek, The People vs. OJ Simpson) and Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) as the Housemans. Sarah Hyland was a much less obnoxious, and much more endearing older sister Lisa. Debra Messing was a perfect mother, who they gave a lot more depth to in this story. And like the character of Johnny, Bruce Greenwood had big shoes to fill playing Baby's father, Dr. Jake Houseman, originally played by the wonderful, late Jerry Orbach. I couldn't help but compare this character to the original as well, although they did give him more story to work with in the remake.
One thing the writers did right was that they didn't copy the original word for word. They gave the parents and sister more depth and backstory. They changed a little thing here and there to help you stay engaged with the new storyline. They even added in new musical numbers done by each family member, and one by the "bungalow bunny" Vivian Pressman, played by the badass Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy, Married with Children).
The music was tampered with a little. Some numbers, like "Do You Love Me" were a little watered down, sung by the new stars instead of the original 1960's version by The Contours. Many of the songs sounded like karaoke versions of the originals. But some were fun variations. I enjoyed the She's Like the Wind remake, and really dug the Hungry Eyes remake. My favorite song added was the duet between Sarah Hyland and J. Quinton Johnson's character Marco, entitled "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright". I also enjoyed the Time of My Life cover with the whole cast.
All in all, it was a good time. I don't really think it needed a remake, as the original is timeless, but I watched it and enjoyed it. The ending was fun too, which looked ahead and gave us some insight into what happened to Baby and Johnny. Like Dirty Dancing fan fiction. If you're a fan and you come across the remake, I say go for it. Don't expect Swayze and Grey, but have an open mind and enjoy the story all over again with a few surprises.