Watch Ragtime For Free

Best movie of this year hands down!

A lot of fun.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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

Ragtime is a movie that has obvious aspirations to the epic, but never quite makes it. Multiple plot lines go nowhere, only to be neatly resurrected at some random time in the future, just to remind us that everything is 'linked'. Characters go off on random tangents for no apparent reason, things just happen, you get the idea. The central subplot is actually reasonably compelling, but even then it suffers from being slightly haphazard, with all but the very central characters basically behaving in a completely random manner. All this being said, Ragtime is not a bad movie per se, it's sumptuously shot and the acting is mostly pretty good, once the main subplot gets moving, it's pretty engaging.Ragtime is based on the book of the same name, I didn't know this when I was watching the movie, but it's pretty obvious that the script has suffered from attempting to compress the book, even then, the movie still weighs in at a hefty two and a half hours, one can't help feeling that they should have just concentrated on developing the main story properly, instead of trying to throw in the kitchen sink.In conclusion: Well done, a little bit of a mess, probably worth a go if you're looking for a period drama.

E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel set in New York of 1910 was adapted rather loosely by Milos Forman to tell a story of race and justice in America. The main plot lines, that of a black man (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) seeking justice for the vandalism done to his car, and the sensational trial of Harry K. Thaw for the murder of famed architect Stanford White seem unrelated at first. As the picture winds on, however, the point of the parallel stories becomes more obvious: in the white rich man's world of the day, Thaw's money and family connections could manipulate the justice system to give him the results he desired, even free him from responsibility for his crime, while Rollins' character could have no such expectations, however justified his outrage. A further subplot involving the rise of immigrant artist Mandy Patinkin is woven into he fabric of the narrative, giving the film at least some of the sprawling flavor of the book, although other plot lines had to be cut for brevity's sake. Forman had many of his usual collaborators, such as art director Patrizia Von Brandenstein (Amadeus) and choreographer Twyla Tharp (Hair), assisting him in the elaborate task of minutely re-creating period details of interior decoration, dance, and stage entertainment that give the film its wonderful period color. A superb ensemble cast which also included James Cagney, Mary Steenbergen, James Olsen and Brad Dourif works hard to portray the manners and mores of the day, not to mention the racial and class attitudes, which made up so much of the fabric of the novel. All in all, it is a very good and watchable film on its own, although fans of the book might balk at some of the changes made in its adaptation. Features a then-controversial nude scene involving Elizabeth McGovern, in a terrific debut performance as Thaw's wife, showgirl Evelyn Nesbitt.

RAGTIME…Director Milos Forman… Cast Inc… JAMES CAGNEY…Pat O'Brien…Donald O'Connor… This cast is a blast from the past… We film for a few days at Oxford and for me it doesn't get any better than this. The scenes are interior of a big office and I'm dressed as a US cop. Pat O'Brien came onto the set first and shook hands with many of the Supporting Artists (Including me) ''How are you son, you look good'' he said.. Well that's the best way for me to start the day because now I felt good that this man had taken time to welcome all of us. Pat moved around the room chatting to cast and crew alike and we were all waiting for the main man to arrive on set.. The noise was quite deafening until someone said ''He's here''. You could have heard a pin drop as the main man entered the set. Everyone stood and applauded and waited for James Cagney to take his position on the set before silence resumed. There they were in front of me my two heroes of the black and white days of cinema. I think I've seen every film that James has made (Some of them many times) I feel sorry for the kids of today that never got to see he's early films and think a good film today has to be bombarded with special effects to make it work. Let me list some of films of James Cagney to let the kids of today and tomorrow know what they have missed. The Public Enemy (1931), Scarface (1932), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), White Heat (1949). Then in the 50s Love Me Or Leave Me (With Doris Day), Mr Roberts. (With a young Jack Lemmon). I could watch all these films again and never tire. This was to be James Cagney's last film and I would like to say, thank you Mr Cagney for entertaining me for so many years.

I haven't read the novel this film was based on. But I understand it had myriad plot lines snaking throughout the narrative. The director, Milos Forman, apparently chose the Coalhouse Walker story line to hang this movie on. It is about racial injustice, and a revolutionary response to it. OK, I understand that racial injustice is a big part of the American story. I'm not saying that it should be swept under the rug, or that the story shouldn't be told. But if I need to be preached at about racial injustice, I could just go rent a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Aside from this, the film is well done, with excellent acting, good photography, high-quality production values. I guess there was only so much screen time available, but some of the other plot lines got seriously short shrift here, and I think the movie suffers for it.