The Cotton Club Encore: 35th Anniversary Edition

Francis Ford Coppola is the kind of filmmaker that's almost never done with the films he makes. As made evident by the multiple cuts of "Apocalypse Now," Coppola is obsessed with the idea that reworking the structure of his works can bring something new to the conversation.

Now he has done so with his 1984 prohibition epic "The Cotton Club." "The Cotton Club Encore" is less a reworking and more the film Coppola intended to make in the first place. The production was as extravagant as can be, going grossly over budget and resulting in a slew of lawsuits. The director was even forced to cut out key sequences involving African-American characters because the film was running too long. Even after all that, the film went to be nominated for several Golden Globes and Oscars.

"The Cotton Club Encore" follows cornet player Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) as he catapults to fame, and dancer Sandman Williams (Gregory Hines) as he struggles to do the same. Their lives revolved around the Cotton Club, a legendary Harlem nightclub that was a hot spot for gangsters and aspiring musicians.

In the original version of "The Cotton Club," much more time is spent focusing on Dixie's dealings with local mob bosses Dutch Schultz (James Remar) and Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins). Sandman's struggles with overcoming the racism inherent in his daily life was given the short shrift. But after Coppola discovered a Betamax tape with his original cut in 2017, he used his own money to right the wrongs he felt occurred. Now, Sandman's love story with Lila Rose Oliver (Lonetee McKee) is intact, even with added musical sequences that further flesh out the characters the theatrical cut didn't focus heavily on.

Despite all the additions, "The Cotton Club Encore" still has a hard time finding a comfortable medium between musical and gangster drama. With everything so vividly realized and shot, there's a bit of whiplash from switching between the multiple storylines. And weirdly enough, the most tender of the moment of the film belongs to Owney Madden and his right-hand man Frenchy (Ed Gwynne), as the fight over the amount of money used to free Frenchy from a hostage situation. All in all, the film in its newly restored version further highlights the many strengths the theatrical cut had while also struggling with Gere's flat turn as Dixie.

As for special features, there's a quick introduction by Francis Ford Coppola about how excited he was to finally revisit the film. There's also a 20-minute Q&A with James Remar, Maurice Hines and Coppola that only briefly gets at the troubled production and reception the original film saw. For fans of Coppola's, this Blu-ray is still a must-own.

"The Cotton Club Encore"
Blu-ray, DVD and Digital
$19.99
https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-cotton-club-encore