Review of The Cotton Club (1984) by Alysia V — 18 Apr 2009

Coppola's most underrated film. It's admittedly uneven; we keep wondering what set the plot into motion, and the "happy" ending is a cop-out. But man, is this film good-looking. It truly makes you believe that you're revisiting the world of 1930's Harlem, and that is a huge accomplishment.

Richard Gere and Diane Lane give it their best, but Gregory Hines is the one who steals the show- you can't go wrong with that tapdancing. The entire supporting cast does well, including Bob Hoskins, Fred Gwynne, Nicholas Cage, Laurence Fishburne and Lonette McKee.

This film was most notorious back during initial release for its troubled production (Coppola and Richard Gere often got in fights on the set), but today it should be seen as an exquisite work that has aged nicely.