Dirty Dancing fans everywhere are mourning with the sad news of the passing of 1980s sex symbol Patrick Swayze. I would guess that more than likely if you are a guy reading this article, you probably don’t give a crap about his chick flick roles.
While he earned fame with the ladies as the lovable but embattled dance instructor Johnny Castle in aforementioned dance flick and later as Demi Moore’s murdered lover in Ghost, Mr. Swayze actually has a much more varied resume than you would expect.
This article is a tribute to the versatility of the former three pack a day smoker who finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer. So here we go, Amog looks at Swayze’s top 5 underrated movies of all time.
5. 11:14 (2003)
In this thriller, our man Swayze stands out as concerned father Frank in this film that involves the interlocking fates of different characters that, you guessed it, converge at 11:14. Without giving away too much away, the Dirty Dancer stands out as a concerned father who attempts to hide the body of a dude he thinks his daughter killed, only adding to the mayhem.
While certainly not as good as Crash or Pulp Fiction as those crazy interlocking story plot films go, it’s certainly worth a watch. This film is recommended if you don’t want to watch Swayze for the whole movie, but for a short yet memorable role.
4. Point Break (1991)
Swayze stars as surfer dude alpha male/criminal mastermind alongside fellow 80s misfit Keanu Reeves and gravely voiced Gary Busey in this early 90s drama adventure. Swayze actually has huge cajones in this movie, and avoids dancing or séances at any cost.
This is a movie to see if you want to have a bad boy Swayze experience. Recommended for evil Swayze lovers.
3. The Outsiders (1983)
Seriously, this movie is a 1980s coming of age classic film based on the famous novel by the same name. Our recently departed friend joins a star-studded cast that includes C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, the Karate kid Ralph Macchio, and Emilio Estevez that was directed by the great Francis Ford Coppola.
The original “Brat Pack Movie,” Swayze stars as the eldest of the Curtis sons, and tried to help his youngest brother Ponyboy deal with a sticky situation. Recommended if you have to read the book for school but would rather just watch the movie.
2. Red Dawn (1984)
Filmed during a silly little thing called the Cold War, Red Dawn is set in an alternate world where the Soviet Union invaded the United States (why Colorado of all places I don’t know), and our man stars as Jed Eckert, the leader of a group of high schoolers fighting a guerrilla war against the filthy commie invaders.
Dubbing themselves the Wolverines after their high school mascot, somehow these pubescent warriors of democracy, liberty, and the American Way cause a great deal of problems for the Soviet War Machine. Film is recommended if you need to see Swayze as the American Martyr.
1. Donnie Darko (2001)
How weird is Swayze’s character in this movie? If you haven’t seen Donnie Darko, I won’t even start to explain what it’s about because I had to watch it two or three times to understand what the hell was even going on. Good luck getting a group of drunken people together and try making sense of this movie, but I digress.
Swayze is cast new age guru and motivational speaker Jim Cunningham who happens to secretly own a vile and enormous child pornography collection. Recommended if you want to be totally confused and want to take a shower after viewing because of the dirty, dirty character our Mr. Swayze portrays.
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