White Nights

Buy This Item White Nights by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $12.49  on 11-15-2008     Sometimes movies are built around a great idea begging for a story, in this case pairing ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov with tap great Gregory Hines. The resulting storm of dance in <I>White Nights</I>, as one would expect, is great, but the story is a little forced. Baryshnikov plays (in parallel to his own life) a Russian defector to the U.S. who ends up a prisoner in the motherland after his plane is forced to land in Leningrad during an emergency. Hines is an American expatriate who gets involved with the situation. Director Taylor Hackford (<i>An Officer and a Gentleman</i>) punctuates an escape scenario and relationship dilemmas with as many dance sequences as possible, and the result is a wobbly, unconvincing tale with some furious footwork. Fortunately, performances carry the day, as the two male leads are both very strong as actors, and the supporting cast--Isabella Rossellini, Helen Mirren, and filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (<i>Moonlighting</i>)--is terrific. <i>--Tom Keogh</i> Reader Reviews A movie with ballet - but not a ballet movie! The opening scene showing Mikhail Baryshnikov's mind-blowing dance piece against turbulent orchestral music sets the scene for a serious, complex movie. He plays Nikolai Rochenko, a Russian deserter who defected to America but crash-lands back in the Motherland (some of the best air-crash footage I've ever seen). Stuck back in communist Soviet Union, he tries to escape back to the USA but is thwarted by Colonel Chaiko and a bugged apartment. Enlisting the help of Gregory Hines (who is amazingly radiant in this movie) and Nikolai's ex-girlfriend Galina (played by a wonderful Helen Mirren), together they try to escape during the sun-lit night of a Russian Summer. This movie was also Isabella Rossellini's first dramatic role and she is sublime as Raymond's Russian wife. This movie will not disappoint - with drama, suspense and some of the best dance moves on film, it is a wonderfully satisfying film.

White Nights Available from Amazon Price: $12.49 Updated on 11-15-2008.

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