ABC aired a remake of Dirty Dancing on Wednesday, May 24. This new version of the iconic 80's movie featured Abigail Breslin as Baby and Colt Prattes as Johnny Castle. The 1987 classic set a very high bar for romantic dance movies, and unfortunately, the remake missed the mark. The alterations that were made were not beneficial to the storyline, and so much more could have been done in the remaking of the movie to make it great.
I have seen the original version many times, so I am used to seeing Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in the leading roles. But Breslin and Prattes were so disappointing in their roles that the whole time I was watching, I wished that I was watching the original instead. The two had very little chemistry on screen and did not have a believable romance. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" is a line that should melt the hearts of viewers everywhere, and when the line was delivered in the remake, I felt a sense of let down. Another area that is very important to the story but was lacking in the reboot was the dancing ability.
In the beginning of the movie, Baby is understandably not a good dancer. But as she has lessons with Johnny and Penny, she improves and by the end is actually a very good dancer. Colt Prattes holds up his end of the deal, but the same cannot be said for Abigail Breslin. She is not good in the beginning, and throughout the movie she does not improve, though everyone acts as though they are impressed with her final performance. It defeats the purpose of the story in which Baby learns to do something she never thought she could do. In this case, she proves that she can't actually learn to dance. The main plot was also clouded over by sub-plots; Baby and Johnny's romance was underdeveloped because so many side stories were incorporated. There was more of a focus on Baby's parents' relationship, which minimized the importance of the relationship between the two main characters.
The new version was about 30 minutes longer than the original because of the addition of musical numbers. The incorporation of musical performances was uncalled for; the original movie has more emphasis on the dancing, and the musical numbers distract from the story. The memorable songs from the original movie remain, but some of the songs are sung by cast members, and others are covers by modern artists. Though the cast performed the songs well, they were not necessary. The modern covers of the songs made me enjoy the remake even less. The film is supposed to be set in 1963, and modern versions of songs from the 60's and 80's ruin the retro feel of the movie.
Finally, ABC decided to add yet another sub-plot in which the entire story was made into a musical that Johnny choreographed. This was very confusing in the beginning, since it was not explained, and after "The Time of My Life" was performed, it switched back to the modern day where Baby was seeing the Broadway show. It is revealed that Baby is married to someone else and has a daughter, and she has an awkward encounter with Johnny after the show that amounts to nothing, as the TV movie ends abruptly after that. This was not necessary and crushed the dreams of viewers.
In the words of one of my friends, "Why would you mess with perfection?" Dirty Dancing is a well-liked film that is still appreciated by audiences today. There was no need to remake this classic, especially if the new version is not even as good as the original.
