Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

White Nights is helped greatly by the Phil Collins title track and the dancing between the leads although the basic storyline is both intriguing and silly.A Russian ballet dancer (Baryshnikov) turned defector finds his Tokyo bound plane has crash landed suddenly in the Soviet Union and the KGB are in no mood to forget his lack of patriotism.The KGB get Baryshnikov to live with a black American defector (Gregory Hines) but amidst some verbal sparring they both decide to escape. Helen Mirren plays a former love interest of Baryshnikov who feels betrayed by him.The latter part of the film is a cliché spy film plot as our protagonists try to escape the Russians. However the film is an excuse to see Baryshnikov in his pomp doing what he was known for best. Ballet Dancing as well as busting some moves with Hines, himself a noted Jazz/Tap dancer.Both actors were underutilised by Hollywood for their dancing skills and although the plot is basic (Hines reason to leave America looks a tad weak) both actors play well against each other, ably supported by Mirren and Rossellini. The film is kitschy fun with a dated 80s style.

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?

I absolutely ADORE this movie. I have seen in originally with my father when I was still young and then many times afterward. Gregory Hines is breathtaking, Mikhail Baryshnikov... well he is Mikhail Baryshnikov! :) The dance sequences are wonderful, the acting is top notch, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. I was appalled when movie renting stores did not have the movie in the US. They had any other crap that crawled out of Hollywood, but not this masterpiece.I think it is an underrated movie, and joins Zorba the Greek, La Strada and America, America in the top movies I have ever seen.I wholeheartedly recommend it. Give it a chance and you will not regret it. I guarantee you will get goose-bumps throughout the movie. Enjoy! :)