Wow! Such a good movie.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

"The Cotton Club" remains a very stylish recreation of the thirties, balancing carefully on the thin line between parody and homage. The central story about a cornet player and a gangster's moll runs along nicely without being spectacular. Richard Gere is a cornet player who suddenly comes into money after he saves the life of gangster Dutch Schultz. The other actors such as Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins & Nicolas Cage do a great deal with such little parts. But a few things make The Cotton Club memorable. The singing and dancing is never less than sensational. Rather than go for a lavish Moulin Rouge-type approach, Coppola recreates what it must have been like in reality to play in a small club in Harlem. The production values (decors, costumes etc.) are lush.The music played is new recordings of - and very true to - Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway - og the jazz-music at the time! - Very well played and sometimes even better than the originals! The music on the trumpet - by the principal character, (Richard Gere) - is a very good and true applause to the legendary trumpet-player Bix Beiderbecke! - And some of the singing is applause to Ethel Waters! Singing, dancing, love, gangsters, guns and fighting. What more do you need out of a film?! Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

This is a great movie. Lush music and dance numbers, love stories, gangster wars and a few laughs too. Great performances by Richard Gere, Diane Lane, the Hines Bros, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Fred Gwynne, James Remar and even Nicholas Cage. There are more than a few honorable mentions for; Laurence Fishburne, Tom Waits and the dancers of the "Hoofers Club" You have to watch this movie a few times to let it all sink in. I also bought the Soundtrack because the music is classic for the era portrayed. Makes me wonder what Francis Ford Coppola is doing these days. Perhaps he could regale us with a film once in a while. I love his style and attention to detail.I don't think the comparisons to the Godfather are fair. Coppola is known to do accurate period-pieces, especially the early 19th century. This is a fine film.

It's 1928 Harlem. At Bamville Club, cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) saves gangster Dutch Schultz (James Remar)'s live. It becomes widely known and his brother Vincent Dwyer (Nicolas Cage) is excited to join his gang. He falls for Vera Cicero (Diane Lane) but she becomes Dutch's girl. Dutch kills a rival bootlegger in front of mobsters Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) and Frenchy Demange (Fred Gwynne). Owney who owns The Cotton Club tells Dutch to lay low. Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines) and his brother are new hires at the legendary Cotton Club where performers are black and only whites are allowed in the audience. Sandman falls for star performer Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette McKee).This is an extravagant costume drama. It's overly indulgent. There are too many stories. The narrative is too scattered. If the movie could just follow only Richard Gere, it would be a much more compelling watch. None of the characters are compelling. It is a good looking movie from director Francis Ford Coppola but it's not a good watch.

Shallow uninvolving story about a 1930s jazz club and the broad caricatures who frequent it. Looks good but didn't grip me at all. I was checking the clock constantly due to the slow pace and scattered story. Despite the film's stylish period look and some nice jazz music, it doesn't feel authentic. The characters often seem like parodies of characters from 1930s films rather than wholly formed characters of their own who actually lived in that time. I hesitate to blame this on the actors, who I know are good from other works. This is most likely something that should be blamed on Coppola, who wanted these performances for whatever reason. Sorry I know it has a legendary director attached to it but that by itself doesn't make it a good film. Even the greats have misfires and Coppola had his share. This is one of them.