Swayze, Grey shine for ‘Dirty Dancing’ anniversary

Above : Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey star in “Dirty Dancing.” (Photo/IMDb.com)

In another of its special anniversary screenings, Fathom Events is bringing back the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing” for a two-day screening.

The film will show at 1 and 7 p.m. on Sunday and at 7 only on Wednesday at two area Regal Cinemas theaters, at NorthTown Mall and Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Stadium.

“Dirty Dancing,” which was directed by Emile Ardolino, stars Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey and Jerry Orbach. It’s the story of Baby Houseman (Grey), who while spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, falls for the resort’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Swayze).

The film, which is now a cult classic, is noted for its cheese. But it received, and continues to receive, mostly good reviews.

Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Smart and funny, touching and unabashedly sensual.”

The late Roger Ebert , never a romantic, was less congenial. “The movie plays like one long, sad, compromise;” he wrote, “it places packaging ahead of ambition.”

Meanwhile, Richard Schickel of Time magazine was at least a bit more kind. “If the ending of Eleanor Bergstein’s script is too neat and inspirational,” he wrote, “the rough energy of the film’s song and dance does carry one along, past the whispered doubts of better judgment.”

Anyway, we’ll leave you with this: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”