How sad is this?

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A Masterpiece!

A different way of telling a story

Far better than its iffy reputation suggests, The Cotton Club is guilty of being stuffed to the gills, but it also contains mighty fine film making that shows craft both behind and in front of the camera.Set in late 1920s Harlem, the pitch is an area of New York rife with swinging jazz, racism, crooks and gangsters. Prohibition and the depression fill the air just as the talkie movie bursts out of the silver screen. The Cotton Club of the title is the focal point for many of the key character's lives, so Francis Coppola, who stepped in at the eleventh hour of the troubled production, has many threads to juggle. He drops the odd one, but never to the detriment of the verve and swagger of the pic. Violence comes and goes, song and dance often dazzles the eyes and ears, and a cast of hundreds induces that good old game of spot the stars - past, present and future.The narrative has strength via the observations of a major part of America in great transition, with the art design ops and tech crew beavers aiding him considerably via some superb period flavourings There is no getting away from the slightness of some character strands, the director and co choosing to insert another, all be it delightful, dance or song number to fill the void, but the core of the story remains strong throughout. The underworld always looms large, the seedy side of the era pulses away continuously, while the cast enjoy the dressage and frontage of a key time in America's history.Flaws for sure but made with skill and passion and it never bores. Bravo! 7.5/10

Good prohibition-era gangster movie. Not great though - many flaws. The set up and main plot were good. It gave the movie a grittiness mixed with romance that could have gone somewhere. However, many of the secondary plots were uninteresting and/or badly done. The Gregory Hines sub-plot was probably the worst of the lot: drifts throughout, hammy acting and a lame attempt at exposing racial inequality in the 1920s.On that note, the movie does take a tilt at racial issues, but pulls its punches. An opportunity wasted.Writer-director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo, who also collaborated on The Godfather series, would have done better if they just took that Godfather formula and stuck to it. Make a gritty, hard- edged gangster movie, and that alone. Instead we have pointless sub- plots that add nothing and subtract a lot.Performances are varied, but mostly let the movie down. Richard Gere overacts in the lead role. His performance just feels so overdone at times it was hard to find convincing. Gregory Hines is even worse - hammy. James Remar also overdoes it as Dutch Schultz.Nicholas Cage (Francis Ford Coppola's nephew, by the way), is pretty bad in his role. Way over the top delivery, and just seems silly. Surprised his career lasted much longer, though am glad it did.Best performances come from Diane Lane (then only 18) and Bob Hoskins (though he isn't capable of a bad performance).The supporting cast also includes some big names, though some weren't famous at the time: Tom Waits, Laurence Fishburn, Jennifer Grey (in her third movie). Sofia Coppola and Mario van Peebles have very minor roles.A bit more focus and better performances and this could have been a great movie.

Francis Ford Coppola exploded onto the scene with the stylishly original classic 'The Godfather' in 1972. A little over a decade later he made the lesser renowned but yet more notorious (for its production problems and bloated budget) 'The Cotton Club', a fact meets fiction throwback to the movies of the 1930s when gangster films (as well as comedies, etc) often incorporated musical and dance scenes. Today, while the Godfather resides on most of the best-ever movie lists, the Cotton Club is mired in obscurity…a largely forgotten near-miss. The film is stunning visually and has many other redeeming qualities however; James Remar chews the scenery effectively as a rabid Dutch Schultz, women can watch Richard Gere, men can watch the delectable Diane Lane, and the rest can watch the dazzling tap sequences of the Hines brothers and bask in all the period music.Trouble is brewing in 1930s Harlem as Dixie Dwyer (Gere), an up and coming actor, musician and mob fringe-dweller is asked by Schultz to chaperon his mistress, aspiring wannabe club owner Vera Cicero (Lane) and sparks immediately start to fly. Meanwhile Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins), the owner of the Cotton club is preparing for an upcoming prison stint and the local mob figures are vying for position and it appears a mob war is on the horizon.Also, Sandman Williams is starting his dance career and, along with his brother(Gregory and Maurice Hines), is seeking stardom at Harlems' famous Cotton Club. Sandman is also trying to court one of the clubs other entertainers (Lonette McKee) and his aspirations are coming between he and his brother and they eventually split. Also in the mix is Dixie's little brother, a young overzealous mob hit-man "Mad Dog" Dwyer (Nicholas Cage), who like the Sandman seems to be letting his ambition get the better of him.These (and other) story lines will all intersect in and around the Cotton Club as the strong-willed Vera fights for independence from the psychotic Schultz, which in turn puts Dixie in a dangerous predicament. Owney's prison term approaches, Mad Dog gets in over his head and Sandman has a heartwarming on-stage reunion with his brother. As we reach the climax Schultz's behavior has become intolerable and as Madden is leaving for prison we are treated to a masterful cinematic display as images of a high profile mob hit are alternated with shots of Sandman's stair step tap routine; beauty and brutality both captured in one memorable montage.There is a lot to enjoy in The Cotton Club; we get some of the great character actors like Fred Gwynne, Tom Waits, John P. Ryan and Remar, as well as future stars like Lawrence Fishburne, Jennifer Grey and Cage (who is Coppola's nephew by the way). Many of the characters are real such as Schultz, Sandman, Lucky Luciano and a young Bumpy Johnson (the same Bumpy Johnson that Denzel Washington's character worked for in the beginning of 'American Gangster').No it's not the Godfather but just as entertaining in its own way. In the early 90s when I first saw this I'd have rated it 8 or 9…but hey, it still plays well but this is an unappreciated film, for whatever reason. It is a tad long and the vast array of characters are mostly one-dimensional, but still the Cotton Club is well worth a watch.It gives us a glimpse into the culture and the fantastic jazz music of this long gone era. This was the era when common guys like Dixie Dwyer had a good chance of making it big, an era where a strong willed woman could overcome the clutches of a madman, an era when people in movies were liable to break out in song or dance at any time…even in Union Station, and it was an era when the hero got the girl and they rode off happily ever after. What's so wrong about that?

Dixie Dwyer is a jazz musician who begins working with mobsters to advance his career.Then he goes and falls for Vera Cicero, the girlfriend of the famous Jewish gangster, Dutch Schultz.He eventually becomes a Hollywood film star.His younger brother Vincent becomes a gangster in Schultz' mob.The Cotton Club (1984) is directed by Francis Ford Coppola.It's produced by the 80-year old producer Robert Evans.In the writing team there were Coppola and Mario Puzo, writer of The Godfather novel.The movie was a flop, even though everybody had great expectations for it.Richard Gere does very good job in the lead.The part was originally offered for Sylvester Stallone, who turned it down.Coppola's nephew Nicholas Cage is great as Vincent Dwyer.Diane Lane is fantastic as Vera.The great late Gregory Hines is terrific as the dancer Sandman Williams.Lonette McKee is wonderful as his girl Lila Rose Oliver.Gregory's brother Maurice Hines is great as his film brother Clay.Her character is loosely based on Lena Horne.Bob Hoskins is brilliant as the mobster and club owner Owney Madden.Fred Gwynne is one of the kind as his right-hand man Frenchy Demange.James Remar plays Dutch Schultz and he does it with style.Great job by Allen Garfield, who plays Abbadabba Berman.Laurence Fishburne is very good as Bumpy Rhodes.Musician Tom Waits plays Irving Starck.Jennifer Grey portrays Patsy Dwyer.Diane Venora is Gloria Swanson.Bill Cobbs is Big Joe Ison.Woody Strode portrays Holmes.Robert Earl Jones is Stage Door Joe.The young Sofia Coppola is seen as Child in Street.Mario Van Peebles is Dancer.This movie is better than its reputation.It does give a good portrayal of the 1930's.The movie has got some good scenes.The drive-by shooting, where Vincent and his men accidentally kill the kid, is one of them.And so is where Vincent is shot by Schultz' men in a drugstore telephone booth.Coppola did a fine job.The result may not be a masterpiece, but a good movie anyway.