A kaleidoscope of tales from E.L. Doctorow's eponymous novel evokes life in pre-World War I New York City. A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events.
Fine, sprawling period piece. A great swan song for Cagney.
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
July 10, 2011
Sporadically engaging, Milos Forman's chronicle of American society and culture in the beginning of the twentieth century is too sprawling and dramatically diffuse, though some of the acting is excellent.