The Cotton Club Reviews

1984

Rated:
60
from 810 members

Beautiful music and striking dance performances are the highlight of Francis Ford Coppola's musical/mobster flick centered around the legendary Harlem nightclub. The club's black dancers and musicians entertain the exclusively white audience made up of gangsters and Hollywood stars. Local boy Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) saves .. Read more

Starring	Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Bob Hoskins, Lonette McKee
Director	Francis Ford Coppola
Genres	Drama

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Critics' reviews (5) of The Cotton Club
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Richard Gere gets a chance to reveal his cornet-playing abilities in this tale of music and the Mob in toe-tappin' 1920s Harlem. Sadly, Gere's musical talents far outshine his performance, which seems almost trance-like in places, while Diane Lane often appears to be thoroughly bored in her role as Dutch Schultz's moll. The blame must lie with director Francis Coppola, who, in expending his energy on visual clout and showbiz set pieces (some of which are fabulous), under-directs his actors and forgets about the plot. Nevertheless, Bob Hoskins as the club owner and Fred Gwynne as his henchman certainly make their mark, while the Duke Ellington soundtrack is sheer bliss.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
A lumpy vehicle, eventually costing fifty million dollars, for some of the talents who made The Godfather ten years earlier. Despite a few effective moments, a prime example of the careless extravagance which all but killed the film business.
- Halliwell's Film Guide
- Posted 02 Mar 2006
"...Coppola and Kennedy have taken great pains to research the era and come up with an interesting mix of real and created characters of great authority..."
- Variety
- Posted 11 Mar 2005
Most helpful members' reviews (3) of The Cotton Club
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Gere, Gangsters and tap-dancing

This semi-musical sees Gere as a musician in 20s America who gets mixed up with gangsters when he falls for the wrong woman. There's a great subplot with a pair of tap-dancing brothers, but ultimately this film doesn't seem to know what it really wants to do. Definitely worth seeing if you like musicals of the type where people don't just spontaneouly break into song, or if you liked Chicago, but only really for the Gere factor.
- - A customer from London
  - Posted 22 Jul 2004 14:45
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

A strange mix

A strange blend of music, gangsterism and love story that you will ether like or loathe.

The authentic, between-the-wars jazz and dance routines provide an atmospheric backdrop for the speakeasies of the time.

The story of hoodlum Dutch Schultz is woven into a romance between gangster’s moll Diane Lane and musician Richard Gere – who plays his own cornet solos.

The personal chemistry between Gere and Lane never quite gels on screen but it’s worth watching just for the musical scenes.
- - rayk from norfolk
  - Posted 24 Apr 2004 17:13
not bad

the movie was great sound music overall not bad at all
- - A customer from blackpool
  - Posted 28 Nov 2006 13:46
Most recent members' reviews (2) of The Cotton Club
View all
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Gere, Gangsters and tap-dancing

This semi-musical sees Gere as a musician in 20s America who gets mixed up with gangsters when he falls for the wrong woman. There's a great subplot with a pair of tap-dancing brothers, but ultimately this film doesn't seem to know what it really wants to do. Definitely worth seeing if you like musicals of the type where people don't just spontaneouly break into song, or if you liked Chicago, but only really for the Gere factor.
- - A customer from London
  - Posted 22 Jul 2004 14:45
[Highly rated reviewer]

Good fun...

With plenty of 'LOOK WHO IT IS!' moments. reccomended.
- - JimiTheSaint from London
  - Posted 26 Apr 2009 21:36

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Gere, Gangsters and tap-dancing

This semi-musical sees Gere as a musician in 20s America who gets mixed up with gangsters when he falls for the wrong woman. There's a great subplot with a pair of tap-dancing brothers, but ultimately this film doesn't seem to know what it really wants to do. Definitely worth seeing if you like musicals of the type where people don't just spontaneouly break into song, or if you liked Chicago, but only really for the Gere factor.
- - A customer from London
  - Posted 22 Jul 2004 14:45
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

A strange mix

A strange blend of music, gangsterism and love story that you will ether like or loathe.

The authentic, between-the-wars jazz and dance routines provide an atmospheric backdrop for the speakeasies of the time.

The story of hoodlum Dutch Schultz is woven into a romance between gangster’s moll Diane Lane and musician Richard Gere – who plays his own cornet solos.

The personal chemistry between Gere and Lane never quite gels on screen but it’s worth watching just for the musical scenes.
- - rayk from norfolk
  - Posted 24 Apr 2004 17:13
not bad

the movie was great sound music overall not bad at all
- - A customer from blackpool
  - Posted 28 Nov 2006 13:46
Not authentic

I failed to appreciate this movie. Having seen the wonderful 'Hoodlum' recently, I wanted to delve further into the genre. Firstly the movie is miscast. Richard Gere and Nicholas Gage don't belong in this film. It could have taken with others. Secondly the Cotton Club was a mostly 'black' venue standing as it does in Harlem. The leads and assortments should have been black.
- - A customer from London
  - Posted 07 Jan 2009 19:54
[Highly rated reviewer]

Good fun...

With plenty of 'LOOK WHO IT IS!' moments. reccomended.
- - JimiTheSaint from London
  - Posted 26 Apr 2009 21:36

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Critics' reviews (5)
Richard Gere gets a chance to reveal his cornet-playing abilities in this tale of music and the Mob in toe-tappin' 1920s Harlem. Sadly, Gere's musical talents far outshine his performance, which seems almost trance-like in places, while Diane Lane often appears to be thoroughly bored in her role as Dutch Schultz's moll. The blame must lie with director Francis Coppola, who, in expending his energy on visual clout and showbiz set pieces (some of which are fabulous), under-directs his actors and forgets about the plot. Nevertheless, Bob Hoskins as the club owner and Fred Gwynne as his henchman certainly make their mark, while the Duke Ellington soundtrack is sheer bliss.
- Radio Times
- Posted 29 Jan 2006
A lumpy vehicle, eventually costing fifty million dollars, for some of the talents who made The Godfather ten years earlier. Despite a few effective moments, a prime example of the careless extravagance which all but killed the film business.
- Halliwell's Film Guide
- Posted 02 Mar 2006
"...Coppola and Kennedy have taken great pains to research the era and come up with an interesting mix of real and created characters of great authority..."
- Variety
- Posted 11 Mar 2005
The misconception that sinks this often handsome confection is that revivalism will spread evenly over separate... read more on Time Out
- Time Out
- Posted 04 Nov 2008
"...[Coppola] makes extremely striking use of the formalised talents of Gregory and Maurice Hines..."
- Sight and Sound
- Posted 11 Mar 2005

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  Beautiful music and striking dance performances are the highlight of Francis Ford Coppola's musical/mobster flick centered around the legendary Harlem nightclub. The club's black dancers and musicians entertain the exclusively white audience made up of gangsters and Hollywood stars. Local boy Dixie ...