Ragtime

There are times that great novels just don't translate well to film, and because of the failure of the film a wonderful performance gets lost in the shuffle. The setting for this story, New York City at the turn of the century, is abundant with life but with the constant jumping to each characters sub-plot in the tale the true plotline is lost to the viewer. Even with all of the noticeable actors and actresses in the film one performance stands out from the rest, and that's James Cagney. With skillful direction from Milos Forman, New York City comes alive showing the all of the sides of humanity that made up that great metropolis.
A study of class, prejudice and politics in New York City at the turn of the century, draws in the wealthy and the poor, the happy and the broken hearted, everyone is effected by their own actions as well as the actions of others. The attention placed on the accuracy of costume and set design shows that no expense was spared to make sure that everything in the film looked and reacted the way they needed to for the story. There are very few films now that, if they are a period piece, pay attention to the kinds of details that were fleshed out for this movie. Its easy to see how the film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, but its also easy to see how it lost all 9, the story gets to watered down and its easy for the audience to lose track of what's going on.
The one thing that is worth seeing in this film is Cagney's performance, this was one of his last screen appearances before he died in 1986, and even though he was ill during filming he believed in his craft as an entertainer and finished filming. The command that he has throughout his performance is outstanding, he comes into a arena and every other performer there has to work up to level to make the scene work. The film itself is an interesting examination of life at the turn of the century, but honestly the only reason I even searched out this movie was to see Cagney's performance. His acting in the story is superb, but unless your willing to sit through 2 hours and 20 minutes before his character gets going, you might want to skip this one.