Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/23/2007 Run time: 136 minutes Rating: Pg13
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 White Nights, 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 (An Officer and a Gentleman) 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 (Moonlighting)--is terrific. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Amazing movie! RIP Gregory Hines!:
This movie has the best dancers ever! A dancer tries to leave the USSR after a plane crash but they want to force him to stay to dance in the country. His roomates want to leave with him after they find out the wife is pregnant. Excellent movie I used to watch this movie over and over again as a child and now that I have it on DVD I'm sure I will again!
Great dancing and engaging drama - what more could you want!:
I first saw White Nights many years ago and loved it. Having recently watched it again I was a little cautious about how it would be, so many years later. It's still just as great. Typically dancers don't have the best track record when it comes to quality acting, but Baryshnikov is terrific. The storyline is incredibly believable and the music adds perfectly to the drama of Communist Leningrad. I would highly recommend this movie to lovers of both dance, and good drama.
White Nights - hot dance in Soviet Russia!:
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... more info
For Baryshnikov Fans! A Must!:
I first saw this movie when it came out years ago. I loved it then and I love it now! If you are a fan of ballet, dance, and Baryshnikov it is a must have! The story follows the era of the Russian Cold War and the isolation its dancers went through. It is a likely story for its time with dancers being controlled by a harsh government, people wanting to escape the life of poverty and government control, and finding freedom somehow. To watch Baryshnikov dance in anything is wonderful!
