The Cotton Club Blu Ray Review (Umbrella Entertainment)

The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime film co-written & directed by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, & Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Coppola originally just signed on to the project as the writer but agreed to direct it after putting all his money into “One from the Heart”. Mario Puzo was the original co-writer for the production but got replaced by William Kennedy (Ironweed). 12 different scripts were finished for this & around 20 scrapped during the pre-production. It was produced by the legendary Robert Evans (The Godfather, Chinatown, The Two Jakes, Marathon Man, & Black Sunday). He was banned from the set at one point during the shoot. Richard Pryor was originally cast as Sandman Williams. It went over budget & it took 5 years to make. In 2017, Coppola spent $500,000 of his own money to restore this film with his own director’s cut after finding an old Betamax video copy of his original cut that ran 25 minutes longer. The budget was $58 million & it grossed $25.9 million worldwide at the box office.

Struggling Jazz musician Dixie Dwyer (played by: Richard Gere from Pretty Woman, American Gigolo, Internal Affairs, & Primal Fear) gets a job at the Cotton Club owned by mobster Owney Madden (played by: Bob Hoskins from The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, & Super Mario Bros.) with the help of his enforcer Frenchy Demange (played by: Fred Gwynne from The Munsters, Pet Sematary, Car 54, Where Are You?, & Fatal Attraction). Sandman Williams (played by: Gregory Hines from Running Scared, A Rage in Harlem, Wolfen, & Eve of Destruction) is a performer there with Dixie. Most of the artists at the club are black & the customers are white. Dixie’s brother Vincent (played by: Nicolas Cage from Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, & The Rock) starts working for gangster Dutch Schultz. Schultz brings Dixie in his circle after saving him plus being a fan of his music.

This dangerous relationship has the musician interacting with the New York underworld including the infamous Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano (played by: Joe Dallesandro from The Limey, Sugar Hill, Wiseguy, & Killer Nun). This leads to him making a choice that will change his life forever. Dixie meets & ends up having an affair with Schultz’s girlfriend Vera Cicero (played by: Diane Lane from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Streets of Fire, & The Outsiders) who is also in business with the jealous kingpin. Sandman’s love interest Lila Rose Oliver (played by: Lonette McKee from Brewster’s Millions, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, & He Got Game) is having problems with the Cotton Club management so Harlem’s own crime lord Bumpy Rhodes (played by: Laurence Fishburne from Hoodlum, The Matrix franchise, CSI, & John Wick 2/3) steps in to fix the issue. A brutal war between Owney Madden & Dutch Schultz is happening, who will be stuck in the crossfire????

The Cotton Club is probably Francis Ford Coppola’s most under-rated film. Ask anyone when they think Coppola & the crime sub genre, The Godfather franchise comes to mind right away. Most were expecting another Godfather when this was released but it’s completely different from that world. It mixed the criminal underworld with music. The soundtrack & score for The Cotton Club is one of the true highlights from the production. After all these years, it still holds up really good thanks to the great performances & excellent casting. Richard Gere & Gregory Hines delivered some of their best work here. The supporting cast is amazing, look at the all the talent it includes James Remar, Bob Hoskins, Fred Gwynne, Nicolas Cage, Lonette McKee, Laurence Fishburne, John P. Ryan, Tom Waits, & Joe Dallesandro. Plus lots of familiar character actors show up in smaller roles & cameos like James Russo, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Cobbs, Mark Margolis, Woody Strode, Ed O’Ross, & Julian Beck. Diane Lane is beautiful & she was top notch eye candy back then but I can see why she got nominated for a Razzie in this. The Cotton Club has one of the most legit characterizations & best portrayals of known mobster Dutch Schultz. It has a great balance of drama & flat out violence, it’s very entertaining. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Umbrella Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer from StudioCanal is an older master but it’s a big improvement over the DVD from 2001. It’s the best it’s ever looked on home video so far, just don’t expect reference quality. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track sounds great! The dialogue is crystal clear, all the madness is elevated, & the music here is the best thing about it. It also has English SDH, German, Italian, Spanish subtitles. The only special feature on the disc is the “Theatrical Trailer”. It has reversible artwork. It says Region B on the back but it’s actually Region Free so import this into your collection ASAP since it hasn’t been released on blu ray in America. It’s available at most spots, CHECK IT OUT!!!!