Word: coppolas
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...keep the plot nice and confused, Coppola has composed a parallel sub-story starring Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines) a tap dancer at the club, who also falls in love with a showgirl William's beloved. Lila Rose Oliver (Lonette Mckee), is stuck in racial limbo, because she can pass as both a white and a black woman, threatening her relationship with the Sandman...
...surprisingly, "The Cotton Club" rambles along these storylines and several others while consistently failing to reach any dramatic climax, development or even coherence Coppola never investigates the dynamics of the gangsters world, even though "the power" changes hands several times during the film. Coppola presents the titillating moments of mob murders, like when Dixie and Vera watch the impulsive Dutchman stab his rival Flynn with a turkey carver during dinner. The blood sprays the walls, and covers the ivory tablecloth, while drops fall from the chandelier onto Lane's porcelian cheeks. Although scenes like these have dramatic bang, they never...
There is no sense of continuity in the "Cotton Club"; we never know how one gang accumulates or loses it's power. Coppola introduces the Irish Jewish and Italian rackets, but the only way one can tell the mob has changed hands is by the size of gangsters noses...
...screenplay, rather than the mobster's bullet proves to be the actors worst enemy. The dialogue is reminiscent of old gangster films in the worst sense, particularly surprising coming from the man who made films like "The Godfather." Coppola and his cohorts provide almost no basis for the romantic entanglements that we are expected to believe. The Sandman falls in love with the lovely, leggy Lila Rose when he first sees her. "Will you marry me?" he asks impulsively. This one, searing sentence is the only expression of the couple's love...
...least Coppola knows how to make use of his cast, expertly extracting each character's innate talent, choreographing their interactions with a subtle and sensitive hand...