While the original 'Dirty Dancing' is not one of my all-time favourites, the soundtrack, dancing (the final dance number is iconic for good reason) and chemistry between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey still mesmerise and it is easy to see why it was a career-defining role for Swayze.

Let's get this off the bat. With me, there is no prejudice towards/against remakes and re-doings, there are some good ones out there but there are just too many where one just doesn't see the point when they lose anything that was so impressive with their originals (the 'Psycho' and 'The Wicker Man' remakes are notorious examples). Will admit to sitting down to watch the 2017 'Dirty Dancing' with dread, not because of the whole remake thing but because it really didn't look good from the trailer and the casting was bizarre.

After watching, while not as diabolical as feared or heard 'Dirty Dancing' (2017) was still a big disappointment. To me there were redeeming values and there are certainly far worse remakes around, but it does make the chief mistakes of having no point to it (other than introducing the story to younger audiences or something) and for losing what made the original 'Dirty Dancing' so winning.

Starting with 'Dirty Dancing's' redeeming qualities, the soundtrack is great, very catchy and makes the foot tap. The best performances come from Sara Hyland and surprisingly Nicole Shertzinger, the latter on paper seemed like a completely insane casting choice but she was charming and was one of the better singers and dancers in the cast.

Bruce Greenwood, apart from the singing, also does well, if not in the same league as Jerry Orbach. Really liked what was done with Lisa who is actually much more interesting and better developed here rather than being a just there figure/plot device. The one improvement over the original to me. Her and Jake were the only decently developed characters and her subplot was the only one that properly worked.

However, there is a lot wrong with this 'Dirty Dancing'. The two leads are badly miscast, they are all wrong on their own and even more disastrous together. Abigail Breslin looks dreadfully stiff and vacant throughout, especially in the dancing, while Colt Prattes' performance lacks charisma, swagger or charm, his dancing is also not natural and it was disconcerting to see a Johnny that looked like he had just come from auditioning for a vampire film.

Rest of the cast do what they can, but with very little to do and bad writing. In terms of singing, Shertzinger is by far the best, actually having a great range, an appealing tone, agile style and the ability to sing on pitch. Nobody else in the cast achieved that feat. As for the dancing, again apart from Shertzinger that was awful all round, especially for Baby and Johnny, robots move with more natural grace. Anybody expecting what made the "Time of My Life" scene so iconic are best looking to the original, there is nothing of that amount of daring or ingenuity.

Production values look too glitzy, clean and polished and much of the directing is decidedly routine. The script is cheesy and undercooked throughout, while the story has no passion, no dirt, no sexual tension, anyone or anything worth rooting for and magic. It goes on for too long and is bloated by too many subplots that are either not fully explored or pointless, for example the one with Marjorie and Jake could have worked but took too much time and didn't really go so far.

As has been said, the ending is terrible, one of those rare endings that is enough to rate something significantly lower automatically, far too downbeat and contradictory and going against all of 'Dirty Dancing's' themes (which are not explored very well either).

Overall, not THAT dire but a real disappointment in most areas. 3/10 Bethany Cox

It's the summer of 63. Baby Houseman (Abigail Breslin) and her older sister Lisa (Sarah Hyland) follow their parents (Debra Messing, Bruce Greenwood) to Kellerman's Lodge in the Catskill. The owner sets Baby up with his son Neil Kellerman. She carries the watermelon for Billy to a party only for the workers. She is taken with Johnny Castle (Colt Prattes) and his dance partner Penny Rivera (Nicole Scherzinger). Vivian Pressman (Katey Sagal) is the lounge singer. Lisa chases after arrogant Ivy League waiter Robbie but he manhandles her. Baby borrows money from her father to pay for Penny's abortion and Johnny agrees to teach her dancing. The abortion is set at the same time as their dance routine and Baby has to take over.

Abigail Breslin is a bit too old for the role. She would have been perfect a few year ago. Let's just say that this movie is not helping her in many ways. However, she's not that much of a problem considering the rest. She and the other real actors do solid work but the non-actors struggle. Colt Prattes is a lackluster lead. I'm guessing that he was picked for his dancing. Same goes for Nicole Scherzinger. The whole movie is lackluster. There is a real question as to why this was remade. ABC could have just shown the original and it would be infinitely better. With all the live network showings, this has the possibility of being a compelling live watch especially with the dance routines. This is bad in many ways and any good pales in comparison with the original.

People have probably been saying for years that a remake of Dirty Dancing would be a bad idea. Well, it happened! 30 years after the hugely popular 1987 movie starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, the people in TV land decided to make this new version, directed by Wayne Blair (The Sapphires),I only watched it to compare it with the original. Basically in the summer of the 1960s, Frances "Baby" Houseman (Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin) is vacationing with her family, her doctor father Jake (Bruce Greenwood),mother Marjorie (Will & Grace's Debra Messing) and sister Lisa (Sarah Hyland),at Kellerman's resort in the Catskill Mountains. Baby develops a crush on the resort's dance instructor Johnny Castle (newcomer Colt Prattes),she is fascinated by his "dirty dancing", his dance partner is Penny Rivera (Nicole Scherzinger). Baby discovers Penny is pregnant by womanising waiter Robbie Gould (Shane Harper),Baby borrows money from her father, she does not tell him it is for an illegal abortion for Penny, she accepts the money. But Penny and Johnny are due to perform a weekly dance at a nearby resort, she will miss the performance if she goes ahead with the abortion, Penny suggests Johnny to teach Baby to dance and take her place. Johnny begins to teach Baby, the practising starts awkwardly, but she gradually begins to improve, and a romantic attraction develops between them, their performance is mostly successful, although Baby was too nervous to do the final lift. Johnny and Baby return to find Penny in agony, it turns out the doctor who performed the abortion was a back alley hack, Jake treats her, despite her anger with Baby using money to pay for the procedure, he forbids her to associate with Johnny. Meanwhile Marjorie feels alienated by Jake, who hardly pays her any attention and shows little affection, she says that she wants a divorce, but Jake makes an effort to show her how much he really loves her, they reconcile and have sex. Also, Penny rejects the advances of Robbie, she befriends the resort's African-American pianist Marco (J. Quinton Johnson),his boss Tito (Star Wars' Billy Dee Williams) objects to their relationship, Marco teaches her to play the ukulele in preparation for the talent show. Johnny is accused of the theft of the watch belonging to the former husband of Vivian Pressman (Katey Sagal),which was deliberately planted, but Baby confirms that it was not him that stole it, because he spent the night with her, he is cleared, but Max Kellerman (Tony Roberts) still fires Johnny, he leaves, Baby is very upset. The end-of-season talent show is in progress, Jake takes back a recommendation letter for medical school for Robbie when he reveals he got Penny pregnant, Johnny appears following Lisa's performance, he explains to the audience that he always performs the last dance of the season. Baby and Johnny perform a more provocative version of their Mambo duet, other dancers join, Baby runs to Johnny and executes the lift they'd practised, all guests join the celebration, Jake apologises to Johnny and reconciles with "Frances", the couple embrace and everyone dances joyously. It then forwards to the 1970s, Frances attends a performance of "Dirty Dancing" on Broadway, choreographed by Johnny and inspired by her book, Frances was given the faith to pursue a career because of Johnny, but now she is now married with a daughter, seeing each other Johnny and Frances encourage each other to continue dancing. Also starring Beau Casper Smart as Billy Kotsecki and Trevor Einhorn as Neil Kellerman. Breslin is not as pretty or slender as Grey was, Prattes is a professional dancer, but can't act well enough, together there is hardly any real spark, Scherzinger, Greenwood and Messing are alright. There are plenty of problems with this remake, most of the acting, the naff new versions of the popular songs, including "Hungry Eyes", "She's Like the Wind" and of course "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", supporting characters are given unnecessary extended subplots, making the film almost half an hour longer. But the one thing I cannot forgive is the horrible ending, breaking up the lovers and having them go on to have new lives, it completely ruins the happy ending, up until that moment I may have forgiven most of the film for its foibles, this is a remake to avoid, die-hard fans should stick with the superior original, a terrible romantic drama. Pretty poor!