Lee Eisenberg 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.

snorlax3111984 Pro: 1. Nobody needs to be told that Francis Ford Coppola can make a great gangster film. The feuds between the mobsters is intriguing and the action scenes never fail to excite. The fact that many of the gangsters existed in real life makes it all the more exciting. 2. It's not hard to see why the Cotton Club became so famous with all the great acts we see performing at the club in this movie. My favorite is Cab Calloway performing "Minnie The Moocher".3. African-Americans in "The Godfather" were mostly ignored or scorned. It's great to see them get more focus in "The Cotton Club". The romance between Gregory Hines & Lonette McKee is very sweet. It's a pleasure to see Lawrence Fishburne's gangster "Bumpy" give Caucasian gangsters what they have coming. I was delighted to learn the real-life Bumpy survived to his 60's and died of heart failure when so many gangsters were murdered.4. My favorite moment in the film is when Frenchy destroys Owen Madden's watch just so he can give Owen a new watch. Even hardened criminals can have a heartfelt moment together.5. I can see why Richard Gere and Diane Lane went on to do 2 more movies together. They have nice some real nice chemistry. It doesn't hurt that they both have music talent: Lane does a good cover of "Am I Blue?" and credit to Gere for doing his own coronet solos.6. There's a nice moral to the story: Richard Gere, who favors music and acting over mob violence lives happily ever after while his brother, Nicholas Cage seeks an easy living though mob violence and robbery and lives a very short life (it amuses me that Nicholas Cage is gunned down in The Cotton Club in a phone booth while James Caan was gunned down in The Godfather at a toll booth). It's similar with Gregory Hines. He wanted to kill Big Mike for his cruel treatment but Bumpy tells him his ticket to a better life is his tap dancing. Good think Gregory Hines is able to listen to reason and things end up well for him.7. Best Line Bumpy: This uppity (n-word) would like to offer you a drink (dunks Big Mike's head in a toilet bowl)Cons 1. Mostly, this movie does a great job of not appearing to be a Godfather rip-off except for one thing. This movie has two montages of mob violence, one while Lonette McKee sings "Ill WInd Go Away" and another while Gregory Hines tap dances. It's hard to see this and not think of the mob violence montage set to piano music in The Godfather. The first montage of mob violence with Lonette McKee especially resembles the montage in The Godfather with the use of newspaper headlines.2. What was the point of giving Nicholas Cage's character a fiancé? She never really serves any purpose to the story. I don't remember if we even see her reacting to Mad Dog's death.

cardinalcall Although the script is not the best that could have been written, who cares when you have so many talented dancers, actors, actresses, and performers in a film with lavish costumes and sets. The movie transports the viewer back in time to the Prohibition Era, when gangsters ruled, booze flowed, musicians jammed, and dancers tapped.Don't try to follow the plot: it's not worth the bother. There is something for everyone in this movie: music, dance, violence... even titillating lingerie and costumes for those with fetishes.My favorite scene is that in the Hoofer Club. Filming those old timers dancing was a glorious tribute to their talent, and well worth preserving for future generations. Needless to say, the dance sequences with the Hines brothers were excellent.Try to get past the limitations of the script and enjoy the ambiance of the Jazz Era, gone long ago, leaving us now only with rappers--whom I cannot even understand, thank goodness, and who have no talent in comparison to those performing in this film--and country singers, who are anything but country folk.

Wuchak Everyone knows Francis Ford Coppola is a master filmmaker. His 1984 film, "The Cotton Club," centers on events at the famous Harlem nightclub during the late 20s and early 30s. The club was a "whites only" establishment but ironically utilized mostly black entertainers.PLOT: As musician Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) starts chumming around with mobsters in order to advance his career, he slowly gets involved with the young moll (Diane Lane) of a snarling gangster (James Remar) and eventually becomes a Hollywood actor with the help of the club's owner (Bob Hoshkins). Meanwhile a black entertainer at the club, Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines), gets involved with a half-black singer (Lonette McKee), who sometimes passes herself off as white for convenience and career. Also on hand are Nicholas Cage as Dwyer's brother, who gets mixed up with the mob and becomes a public enemy, and the hulking Fred Gwynne as the club owner's right-hand man.To be expected, there's quite a bit of mob nastiness, but it's nicely balanced out by the music & entertainment. While I'm not a big fan of the music of that period, there are a couple of numbers that really impressed me, including one by McKee's character. The gangster shenanigans are also balanced out by quite a few other aspects, particularly the fact that the film has heart. In short, despite being mainly a mobster movie with a huge side of song & dance, there's some warmth here and there. Also, it's nice to see Fred Gwynne play someone other than Herman Munster.FINAL WORD: I was mainly interested in "The Cotton Club" because of Coppola's genius and the film's infamous production. In addition, the movie's a great way to sort of go back in time to the Prohibition-era and get a taste of what it was like, Hollywoodized and overdone though it may be.The film was shot in New York City and runs 2 hours 7 minutes.GRADE: B