One for the jazz fans

The Cotton Club (1984)

In the 20's the Cotton Club was the coolest place in town where all the celebrities and street kingpins spent their quality time. The performers were the best of the best from jazz musicians to dancers and singers. Even though close to all of the performers were black the club was for white folk only, which of course added it's own tension in addition to the mafia bosses fighting for the biggest share of Harlem. Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) is a skilled musician who ends up being a favourite to a nasty mob boss who takes him under his wing, even though Dixie doesn't really like the idea. Dixie's brother, Vincent (Nicolas Cage), is a small time crook looking to get a footing in the city. Vera Cicero (Diane Lane) is an up and coming singer also looking for a big breakthrough. Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines) is a tap dancer with his brother who get a spot in the Cotton Club's show. Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) is the guy who runs the place and one of the rivaling "families". They all eventually end up mixed together and things of course don't always go as planned. There's so much going on in this movie that once you try to write what's it about it might seem quite confusing, but Coppola keeps it all well in hand. Even though the movie would have worked just as well with a bit less characters to focus on, none of them still seem unimportant. That's of course thanks to the script and good direction. The cast is quite big and quite varying, there's some brilliant performances and some pretty bad ones as well. Though in the end they kind of balance out. If you're a jazz fan, you'll love this movie as there's plenty of music in it and some quite nice performances. I wonder why the movie flopped so bad when it came out as this is definitely not a bad one, it's big, pretty and entertaining, just what the audience wants. Though it's a bit long and tends to get a bit boring at parts, but luckily there's always a nice comeback to get the attention again. Not the best from Coppola, but still a good and entertaining movie.
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