Synopsis
Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.
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Cast
- Richard GereRichard 'Dixie' Dwyer
- Gregory HinesDelbert 'Sandman' Williams
- Diane LaneVera Cicero
- Lonette McKeeLila Rose Oliver
- Bob HoskinsOwney Madden
- James RemarDutch Schultz
- Nicolas CageVincent Dwyer
- Allen GarfieldOtto 'Abbadabba' Berman
- Fred GwynneFrenchy Demange
- Gwen VerdonTish Dwyer
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club is, quite simply, a wonderful movie. It has the confidence and momentum of a movie where every shot was premeditated -- and even if we know that wasn't the case, and this was one of the most troubled productions in recent movie history, what difference does that make when the result is so entertaining? - 90
Washington Post
In the way it deemphasizes its script and consciously undercuts its star, Cotton Club adventurously questions the formulas of Hollywood; its success in doing so without a hint of boredom or pretension augurs a whole new way of making movies. It's the most entertaining art film of the year, the kind of movie you can't help smiling along with. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Lavish, interesting, evocative but strained and self-conscious, The Cotton Club is all watchable curiosity. - 75
Chicago Reader
It was the most assured film Coppola had made in a decade, full of casual wit and visual invention. And even though the split narrative doesn't quite cohere, Coppola wins an amazingly high proportion of his risky bets, including a finale that takes off into total abstraction. - 70
Variety
Dramatically, Coppola and co-screenwriter William Kennedy, juggle a lot of balls in the air. The parallel stories of Gere and Hines’ professional rise prove more potent, thanks largely to a mixture of romance, music and gangland involvement. Hines and McKee generate real sparks in their relationship and latter adds an interesting dimension as a light-skinned singer trying to hide her racial origins. - 60
Empire
The film's period settings and spectacular on-stage showbiz set-pieces are fabulous, its meandering script much less so. The thing feels like a movie with its heart ripped out. - 60
Time
The Cotton Club is not a bad film, just a bland one; not inept, just inert. Given its garish production history, one rather expected The Cotton Club to sing with hot-jazz desperation. Instead, we get the mediocre craftsmanship of a pit band in Vegas. - 50
The New York Times
The Cotton Club is not a complete disaster, but it's not a whole lot of fun. It just runs on and on at considerable length, doing obligatory things, being photographically fancy but demonstrating no special character, style or excitement.
