Ragtime (1981) review

Might have been a good film if Forman kept with the three storylines, but instead he drops the Mandy Patinkin story (which is grossly underdeveloped) and the one with Elizabeth McGovern just as they were getting interesting (he returns to them both later on but it’s never clear how they arrived at the point they did) in favor of the African-American/racist part, which panders to the white-liberal audience (Look at the bigots! Look at the injustice!). Colorful set design and costumes, and good cinematography, but it's very incomplete and preachy. Most of the acting is acceptable (Patinkin steals his scenes) except for Mary Steenburgen, whose whispering shy-woman routine has seen its day.