Take this review for it's worth because I'm a sucker for some good jazz. This film is full of great jazz. The Cotton Club was a famous Jazz nightclub. It was also a hotbed of corruption and a seedy underground for the mos of the time.This film is gorgeous and its aesthetic helps to make you feel like you're in the club, bouncing along to the tunes of the day. Finally, there are some wonderful performances from Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and some great moments with Nic Cage that help to give the film structure.Go see it! You'll be tapping your foot to the music for weeks to come.

This is a great movie. Lush music and dance numbers, love stories, gangster wars and a few laughs too. Great performances by Richard Gere, Diane Lane, the Hines Bros, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Fred Gwynne, James Remar and even Nicholas Cage. There are more than a few honorable mentions for; Laurence Fishburne, Tom Waits and the dancers of the "Hoofers Club" You have to watch this movie a few times to let it all sink in. I also bought the Soundtrack because the music is classic for the era portrayed. Makes me wonder what Francis Ford Coppola is doing these days. Perhaps he could regale us with a film once in a while. I love his style and attention to detail.I don't think the comparisons to the Godfather are fair. Coppola is known to do accurate period-pieces, especially the early 19th century. This is a fine film.

"The Cotton Club" deserves all manner of praise for its lavish production values and recreation of prohibition-ear Harlem. The sets, the costumes, even the cast. Such set dressing (almost) makes up for the messy narrative and lack of focus. It's not a movie I'll revisit anytime soon, but it's worth a watch just for the soundtrack, musical numbers (that tap-dancing was something) and the laundry list of performers. This was like a who's who of future "Miami Vice" guest stars, not to mention how many actual names are present here. If only the rest of the movie wasn't such a slog.Even still, Bob Hoskins walks away with the whole movie, and such an ability is always worth a look.5/10

Francis Ford Coppola reunites with Mario Puzo to deliver another gangster film, this one revolving around the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem starting in the year 1928. To those hoping for another Godfather, it must have been somewhat disappointing - this is just not another Godfather movie, despite the similar milieu. The script isn't nearly as tight, and the all-star cast, despite being mostly good, isn't anywhere near as good as the Godfather ensemble. Personally, I'd take it over at least the third Godfather film any day of the week (that one was nominated for Best Picture; this film must have had similar aspirations, getting released near Christmas of 1984, but it only garnered two noms, for art direction and editing). The film is kind of Altman-esque with the way it follows multiple story lines (my first thought was "I wonder what Altman could have done with it?" but then I remember his own film of a similar vein, Kansas City, was a dud). None of them are particularly fantastic, truth be told, but all are serviceable. Richard Gere is the closest thing we have to a protagonist, as a cornet player who becomes a right-hand man to a gangster (James Remar). Diane Lane becomes romantically entangled with the both of them, but ends up with the gangster. Another plot line follows dancer Gregory Hines' romantic pursuit of the light skinned singer Lonette McKee. Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne play gangsters who co-own the Cotton Club. Nicolas Cage plays Gere's brother, who also becomes a gangster. The real worth of the film, though, is just the wonderful milieu and the awesome musical and dance numbers. Near the end of the film, Cab Calloway becomes the Cotton Club's premier musical talent (he's played by Larry Marshall). Perhaps this isn't great, but it's definitely worthwhile.