03/31: White Nights (1985)

I wasn't really familiar with the movie until over a year ago. One thing I DID know was that Phil Collins had a #1 hit single (with Marilyn Martin) from that movie. Then one day on our free Encore trial, I was flipping through the Encore channels and this movie came on. The scene that got my attention was the 'dance scene'. I'll explain, read on.

This artful dance film was set in Russia (or at the time, the Soviet Union) and stars Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) plays a popular dancer and actor who defected from the Soviet Union whose plane suddenly lands back home from Japan. A member of the KGB recognizes him and arrests him, but later puts him in the same place as Greenwood (Hines) and his wife (who both left the US for the Soviet Union). Greenwood is put in charge of keeping his eye on Rodchenko, who are at odds because of their racial differences. Despite of this, they bond slowly but surely and together they devise a plan to escape the Communist country.

One of the most famous dance scenes of all-time, if not the best happens about 3/4s into the film, as Greenwood and Rodchenko test out each other's moves in the studio. And in case you're wondering, the song they dance to is 'Prove Me Wrong' by former Ambrosia lead singer David Pack. Besides that song, it's got a great soundtrack as well that adds spice to the seriousness of the movie.

Some may see this is as boring, while some may like it because of Gregory Hines. Hines was one of the most iconic double threat actors who could also dance very well. This was during the peak of his career.

My rating: 6 out of 10