The Cotton Club (1984)

Wonderful character development!

A Disappointing Continuation

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Take this review for it's worth because I'm a sucker for some good jazz. This film is full of great jazz. The Cotton Club was a famous Jazz nightclub. It was also a hotbed of corruption and a seedy underground for the mos of the time.This film is gorgeous and its aesthetic helps to make you feel like you're in the club, bouncing along to the tunes of the day. Finally, there are some wonderful performances from Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and some great moments with Nic Cage that help to give the film structure.Go see it! You'll be tapping your foot to the music for weeks to come.

Following his masterpieces "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now", Francis Ford Coppola entered a period in which his career suffered. Although he still made good movies - particularly "The Outsiders" - they didn't gain the renown of his 1970s work. One example was "The Cotton Club". The focus is the famous jazz joint in Harlem. In addition to the music, there's dealings with gangsters, racial and ethnic tensions, and other things. But no matter what happens, the show must go on.I thought that the most interesting story in the movie is the relationship between Sandman (Gregory Hines) and Lila (Lonette McKee). What is essentially an interracial relationship - he's black, she's mulatto - drives an important chunk of the plot, especially since this is an era in which most people don't think twice about using racial epithets (but are things much better now?). The relationship between Dixie (Richard Gere) and Vera (Diane Lane) doesn't seem developed enough. As for the ownership of the clubs by gangsters and their countless alliances and betrayals...well, what do you expect from gangsters? Basically, it's an OK, not great movie. Far from Coppola's best. The rest of the cast is too big to name, but let's just say that you've never seen Eddie Valiant, Herman Munster, Dr. Morpheus and Baby Haussman in a movie together before. There's quite a time to be had here. Not a masterpiece, but I recommend it.

Francis Ford Coppola reunites with Mario Puzo to deliver another gangster film, this one revolving around the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem starting in the year 1928. To those hoping for another Godfather, it must have been somewhat disappointing - this is just not another Godfather movie, despite the similar milieu. The script isn't nearly as tight, and the all-star cast, despite being mostly good, isn't anywhere near as good as the Godfather ensemble. Personally, I'd take it over at least the third Godfather film any day of the week (that one was nominated for Best Picture; this film must have had similar aspirations, getting released near Christmas of 1984, but it only garnered two noms, for art direction and editing). The film is kind of Altman-esque with the way it follows multiple story lines (my first thought was "I wonder what Altman could have done with it?" but then I remember his own film of a similar vein, Kansas City, was a dud). None of them are particularly fantastic, truth be told, but all are serviceable. Richard Gere is the closest thing we have to a protagonist, as a cornet player who becomes a right-hand man to a gangster (James Remar). Diane Lane becomes romantically entangled with the both of them, but ends up with the gangster. Another plot line follows dancer Gregory Hines' romantic pursuit of the light skinned singer Lonette McKee. Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne play gangsters who co-own the Cotton Club. Nicolas Cage plays Gere's brother, who also becomes a gangster. The real worth of the film, though, is just the wonderful milieu and the awesome musical and dance numbers. Near the end of the film, Cab Calloway becomes the Cotton Club's premier musical talent (he's played by Larry Marshall). Perhaps this isn't great, but it's definitely worthwhile.

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?