WHITE NIGHTS

This time capsule of Cold War paranoia combines an only slightly believable action-adventure plot with a moving story about art and repression. Mikhail Baryshnikov is Nikolai Rodchenko, a Russian ballet star who became an American citizen after defecting. But when his airplane makes an emergency landing in the U.S.S.R., Nikolai is captured and sent to stay with Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines), an American tap dancer who defected to the U.S.S.R. as a protest against racism in the United States. sustained tension comes from Nikolai and Raymond’s differing political perspectives, as well as their divergent dance styles, which are showcased in extended sequences set to some of the most archetypal ‘80s funk-rock imaginable.

The movie is overly focused on governmental intrigue, which makes it feel like a war games thriller instead of a story about artistic passion. Baryshnikov’s acting is surprisingly understated, while Hines chews the scenery during Greenwood’s still relevant monologues about American injustice. Isabella Rossellini is effective enough as Greenwood’s wife, but the movie might have been better served by the casting of a Russian actress who understood life in that country in a more physically compelling way.

never had the chance to live up to its potential, and it cries out for a remake that more evocatively foregrounds the daily, mundane oppression of life in the U.S.S.R. Drama, rated PG-13, 136 minutes, Amazon