Review of The Cotton Club (1984) by Brian E — 31 Mar 2010

It takes a great deal for a film to be recognized as one which generously ruined Francis Ford Coppola's career - 'The Cotton Club' was that film.The producers - the main one being an irate, pissed-off Robert Evans - felt that Coppola blew the $40 million insignificantly; and the result? A 1930's gangster period piece which lent such marvelous detail to setting, costume, and art direction, but paid little attention to consistent acting and a clear-cut plot.

Our story involves a modge-podge of a revolving door of notorious characters - most of which are historically accurate, if not all. Set in a time where segregation between Blacks and Whites was still adamant, the actual 'Cotton Club' was a well-regarded hang-out for the upper class as well as the short-fused mobsters of Harlem.

The Blacks could perform at the 'Cotton Club' but could not attend and spectate (perhaps lending the club's name). Now, an all-star cast of characters and their individual dramas: Richard Gere lazily and forgettably plays Dixie Dwyer, the only white performer / bugle-player at the Club is madly in love with the young Vera, played by Diane Lane, who is toted around by the historically sinister mob-boss Dutch Schultz (James Remar), who runs the Harlem mob scene and whose lifeline has an increasingly short rope due to his ill temper and risky workings.

The club is owned by Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins), who sleeps with one eye open at all times because of the obvious gangster climate at his club, and not to mention, the criminal dealings he performs himself.

Nicholas Cage plays an early support role as the horribly-acted Vince Dwyer, brother to Dixie Dwyer, who becomes an increasingly sinister leader of an outlaw mob group looking to destroy the Blacks in the community and set out to rise to the top of the mob scene.

Sandman and Clay Williams (brothers in real life Gregory and Maurice Hines) play brothers who are tap-dance performers at the Club - Sandman pursues a risky love interest with one of the half-black performers, stirring up social problems in the community.

Lastly, a minor story - Laurence Fishbourne plays Bumpy Rhodes, a black crime boss looking to destroy the white man's workings, and seek vengeance on those shutting out the Blacks. Tensions explode to an end.

Indeed, so many characters - such little time to invest with each one. Such a talented all-star cast of characters would've been better handled by Woody Allen or Robert Altman, but instead, the criss-crossing of stories becomes far too tangled and far too convoluted for its own good, tragically.

I didn't particularly become attached to a single character, except for the Sandman Williams subplot of being oppressed by the norms of a racially-split community - the Proletariat being exploited by the Bourgeoisie for the expense of early capitalism.

All he cares about is his art of tap dance, and his love for the stage dancer. We get treated to some of the most charming, most awe-inspiring sequences of tap dance ever shown on screen similar to the sensation and classicism of a musical.

As far as the remaining all-star cast of actors, many of them somehow drifting in and out of a sometimes-convincing, fast-talking Jewish-influenced tongue of the roaring 1920's - and some of them are just plain bad (Nicholas Cage - but hey, it's understandable.

.. this is one of his first major roles, if not his first, and I'm sure Uncle Francis was just helping out the family a little. The good thing is, Cage would go on to take on some memorably captivating roles.

Everyone has a dark past!). Bob Hoskins, Gregory Hines, and James Remar are undoubtedly the performance highlights of the film - all of which are drowned in subplots. The film may have been one of the bigger Hollywood flops in cinema history - partially due to a supposed tall rumor that this was to be stretched into a television mini-series; which, with the convoluted involvement with several intersecting characters, this should have perhaps been the ideal route in terms of turning in major profits, as it could have been as monumental and successful as David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks'.

Instead, it's a 2+ hour film crammed with too much going on. 'The Cotton Club' does document a period with such masterful artistry and cunning direction to everything else visually. The few sequences of mob violence are sharp and instantaneous as mob films should make them - but can you expect anything less from the director of 'The Godfather'? There's a reason why 'The Cotton Club' took the road less-remember, but this certainly doesn't mean it's not worth the drive, especially for die-hard gangster-film fans.