Product: Stormy Weather [VHS] (1980)
Rating: 3.0
Classic performances don't add up to a great film.
Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and the Nicholas Brothers - all great performers. Actually, Bill Robinson may have been a little past his best - in the final number, it feels as though he's just warming up, and then he's finished. I'm not saying that he's bad, but based on his reputation, I'd hoped for a little more. But then any performer would have been overshadowed by the Nicholas Brothers' dancing: an incredible mixture of energy and acrobatics - if I saw it in a film today, I'd assume that there'd been some digital manipulation.However, these great performances are stitched together with a dull plot. We're not given characters we can care about, and the romance is perfunctory - as though the actors aren't even trying to be convincing. Lots of classic moments, but it all adds up to a good film, not a great one.