Looking for 'That Thing'

I was watching the special edition of Dirty Dancing the other day (I know, just keep reading) and was surprised to hear that Dirty Dancing was an independent film.  Not only was it made on an indie budget with relatively unknown actors, but it almost never received distribution.

Now I say I was surprised because I had no idea that a movie from the 80s that was such a blockbuster hit, was an indie film that was extremely close to never being seen by anyone, let alone little girls everywhere, pretending to cha cha cha with their invisible dance partners.

I look at Dirty Dancing today with my adult eyes and I realize a few things:

1. Wow, the editing in this picture is really, really bad.
2. Holy crap, Jennifer Grey is actually incredibly good (especially in relation to Swayze’s overacting). Too bad she had to go get that nose job and ruin her whole career by trying to look like every other white girl.
3. That heartbeat scene still evokes... (thump, thump... thump, thump).
4. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” will always be one of the most quotable lines from a film ever.
5. “She’s like the wind, through my tree” is one of the worst opening lines in a song (thank goodness you stuck to acting Swayze).  

I realize that cheesily enough, what Swayze says makes sense.  Some of the most memorable films aren’t the ones that are necessarily perfect; sometimes it's the imperfect films that grab you the most because they are strong in one element of filmmaking. For Dirty Dancing it's the story. Moviegoers loved the story, the setting, and the characters, and it is precisely because of these strengths, that poor editing, silly lines and a little overacting is quickly overlooked.

Any imperfect film can grab an audience just by imbuing a level of truthfulness that makes us as moviegoers believe in its outcome. So this month's article is all about the movies that have succeeded in achieving greatness by overachieving in a particular element of the filmmaking process.