White Nights

The story is only fair, the acting not quite as good as the story, but the dancing....can't be beat. Try to decide who is the best dancer... Hines with Ballet or Baryshnikov with tap... or both doing a combination of both styles. These guys can dance

Forget about the plot: in this post-Soviet era (and even during that era), such a blatant praise of "Western values" is way too much of a cliché to be enjoyable.

Forget about the acting. It is well played, considering the plot.

Just concentrate on the dancing. Inspired. Passionate. The opening sequence by itself is a pure gem. And the tap dance number with Baryshnikov and Hines. And the solo number by Baryshnikov in the theater. And...

You get the picture.

I'm not a dance fan, but the opening ballet sequence alone is worth the price of a rental. Baryshnikov had a vertical leap matched only by Olympic high jumpers and a few NBA players. Even if the drama flags in spots, the characters are sympathetic and well-drawn, and the action/suspense is as good as that in other adventure flicks of the time. By now the movie also serves a documentary purpose, convincingly conveying the feel of life in the Soviet Union during its waning years.

Baryshinikov is the one of the best male dancers of all time. This movie allows you to see him up close and view his "process" for dancing. You can't help but watch in awe at his amazing athletic and physical feats... from the very first scene where you see him slowly lower his entire body from a headstand to lying down to seeing him dance "en pointe" in what appear to be a pair of "Keds". It isn't just seeing the dances that is amazing. It is the opportunity to see the dances from the perspective of an "insider who is sitting right there next to him -- as opposed to watching him from the audience.

This is dancing "eye candy" at its finest -- my favorite escape movie of all time.

I hadn't seen this movie in 20 plus years and had forgotten most of it except that I'd really liked it. I enjoyed it in my rewatch too, a unique story, worth checking out for the opening dance number with Mikhail Baryshnikov if nothing else. Its incredible, showcasing a true athlete. Gregory Hines is pretty great too, tap dancing and singing, the two together are fantastic.

White Nights is from the mid 80's and except for some cheesy music stands up well. Baryshnikov plays a touring ballet dancer who, after defecting to America years earlier finds himself back in Russia when the plane he's travelling on is forced to make a crash landing in Siberia. Trapped in the country he'd once escaped, 'Nicolai' is taken to stay with American (Gregory Hines) who himself defected during the Vietnam war. Together they dance and plot an escape.

This role must have been written exclusively for Baryshnikov because I can't think that anyone else could have done it.

Isabella Rossellini plays Hines' Russian wife. Her character is well acted but a bit of a twit. If I was making a run for the American embassy and my life was on the line I would not be wearing a bright red sweater, especially during white nights when the sun doesn't set. We also get an appearance from a very young Helen Mirren as Nicolai's former love that he left behind when he defected.

Worth checking out for views of the old soviet union, fantastic dance sequences.

A couple songs from Phil Collins on the soundtrack and some other bad 80s music is used