"The Cotton Club": Glamour, Tragedy, and a Missed Opportunity?

Okay, so I finally watched "The Cotton Club" (I know, I'm late to the party). The whole aesthetic is just chef's kiss. Diane Lane? Richard Gere? The music? Absolutely gorgeous. But I can't help but feel like it could have been SO much more than just a visually stunning gangster flick. I mean, you have this incredible backdrop of Harlem during that era, the vibrant culture, AND the brutal realities of the mob intertwined. But did it really delve into the complexities of the characters? Hmmm... not convinced. Here's my theory: The film hints at a really interesting dynamic between Vera Cicero (Lane) and Dixie Dwyer (Gere), right? She's caught between her gangster boyfriend and this charismatic musician who sees past her façade. But I feel like that love triangle, while visually appealing, overshadows Vera's potential as a fully realized character. I wanted to see more of her struggle, her ambitions, her internal conflict within that gilded cage. We mostly see her reaction through the men in her life. The scene where she's dancing alone, almost desperate, in her apartment? That's the Vera I wanted more of! Less 'damsel in distress,' more 'woman caught in impossible circumstances.' And don't even get me started on the missed opportunity to explore the Black experience at the Cotton Club. Sure, we see the performers, the dancers, the incredible talent, but the film mostly views them through the lens of the white gangsters who are profiting off their labor. Sandman Williams and Clay Williams (Gregory and Maurice Hines) were incredible tap dancers, but their plot felt secondary. I kept wishing the film would shift its focus to their stories, their dreams, their struggles to find success within a system rigged against them. Maybe I'm asking for too much from a crime drama, but the film presented a lot of potential storylines and left them somewhat underdeveloped. Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I think if the film had put more emphasis on the individuals deeply connected to the club, or even made the racial dynamics even more of a central theme to the narrative, instead of the crime plots, "The Cotton Club" would have been a truly exceptional and impactful film. As it stands, it's beautiful, entertaining, but ultimately a little... shallow? What do you all think?