It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I remember sitting in a hotel room in Manhattan in June, 1984, and my then-lover had just walked out the door - probably for good. I turned on the radio and the song "Separate Lives" came on. Well. And may I say, NOT for that reason alone did I always feel Stephen Bishop was robbed blind at the Oscarsd the following spring by losing to Lionel Richie's vapid, pointless "Say You, Say Me." BUT back to the movie! Even my mother wanted me to take her when that movie came out. And GOD, what a killer. Much Kleenex. But because it held a depth of emotion that was genuine. Gregory Hines.......................wow. And you know, really, in view of recent world events, the premise which some of us thought rather silly at the time - well, doesn't all that seem more plausible now?

I don't know how it is that I've never seen this movie especially since my daughter was a tap dancer for 12 years and we were both such huge fans of Gregory Hines. The dancing is superb by both Mikhail and Gregory. The acting a little stiff especially by MB. Predictable but for me, the dancing and the music make the movie. The plot is ridiculous. It's too bad that Gregory Hines wasn't bigger during the 80's and 90's, it's a shame that dancing didn't make a comeback in films the way it should have. Loved the background music, loved the sole dance scene by Hines, loved the duet by both of them, HATED the opening sequence, everything I always hated about "modern" dance. Still worth seeing, if only for the dancing and the somewhat factual USSR defection problems. Seems so long ago now that artists and others actually had to "escape" a country. But the question still begs to be asked: If Raymond needed to leave the U.S. why in the H*** would he end up in freaking Siberia vs. all the other European countries he could have moved to??

Can anyone tell me what scene in the movie uses the popular version of the song Say You Say Me? I thought I had remembered that it was during the main dance sequence between the two men but that sounds like a completely different song. When I see the movie on TV, I never hear the song except over the credits. I feel like I'm going crazy. I understand that the song never appeared on the movie soundtrack album because the record label was different from Richie's own label and they didn't want profits for a hit single going somewhere else first. And I could have sworn that when I first saw the movie the song was prominent in the movie itself. I don't know if I'm seeing truncated versions of the movie now or if the song was moved or if I'm just misremembering. Anybody know?

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.