Summary:

In 1920’s Chicago, aspiring chorine Roxy Hart (Renée Zellweger) shoots her lover who is in the process of walking out on her.  In jail awaiting trial, she meets her idol, cabaret star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has killed her husband and sister in a jealous rage after catching them én flagránte together.  Both hire hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to get them off. 

Steve says:

It’s mind-boggling that a studio would entrust a mega-million-dollar production as important as the long-awaited CHICAGO to a former choreographer whose only prior directing credit was the TV version of ANNIE in 1999.  But I’m here to tell you that the choice of Rob Marshall was inspired.

First, let’s look at his casting sensibilities.  When you say “song and dance,” the names Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere and John C. Reilly don’t exactly leap to mind.  But they were brilliant choices, with each of the performers showing us a depth to their talents that we wouldn’t have dreamed was there.

I’ve never been much of a Richard Gere fan.  I thought he did pretty good work in UNFAITHFUL and a handful of other projects, but he’s never been my “go-to” guy when I’m looking for a gripping performance.  However, his Billy Flynn is flat out the best thing I have ever seen him do.

This is not to take away from Zellweger and Zeta-Jones, who were compelling and dazzling in their roles as murderous jazz babies.  Both have impressive singing voices and handled Marshall’s Bob Fosse-like choreography with aplomb.

The real surprise was John C. Reilly as Roxie’s poor schlub of a husband, Amos.  Reilly is always good, whether he’s a dimbulb porn star (BOOGIE NIGHTS), a grizzled fisherman (THE PERFECT STORM) or a pot-smoking slacker, (THE GOOD GIRL).  But when his character breaks into song in a clear and confident baritone, you could hear jaws dropping all over the theater.  

Less surprising but no less effective was Queen Latifah as a predatory corrections officer.  Her character is introduced with a memorable solo from the former rapper.  Anyone who saw her as the nightclub chanteuse in LIVING OUT LOUD knows she can wrap herself around a ballad with the best of them.

CHICAGO joins last year’s MOULIN ROUGE in reviving the movie musical as an acceptable (and bankable) venue.  Marshall and screenwriter Bill Condon cannily reworked Bob Fosse’s stage triumph to avoid having people breaking into song with no one thinking anything of it. Film is a much more literal medium than the stage and, while the convention worked in the M-G-M song and dance fests of the 40’s and 50’s, it has long since fallen into disrepute. When TV innovator Steven Bochco tried to revive it with COP ROCK a few years back, he was laughed off the network. In 1994, when James L. Brooks made a musical called I’LL DO ANYTHING, the talented writer/director ended up cutting all the songs because test audiences simply didn’t buy it. Baz Luhrmann solved the problem in MOULIN ROUGE by creating a madcap alternate universe in which anything went. In CHICAGO, the only time outside of stage performances that characters sing or dance is in extended fantasy sequences.  The idea works like a charm. 

I fully expect to see CHICAGO show up as a nominee in several Oscar categories.  But the one sure winner has got to be editor Martin Walsh, whose whip-snap transitions between the fantasies and the film’s reality are truly mind-boggling.

While it’s set in the ‘20’s, CHICAGO is very much an entertainment for today. In fact, it has some pithy observations about the media and our system of jurisprudence that are timelier now than they might have been in the 20’s. 

Add CHICAGO to your list of must-see movies.


Five kernels, dripping in butter.

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Patty says:

Steve,  I couldn’t agree with you more. 

I love musicals.  No trip to Manhattan is complete without taking in a few.  The visual images from film fade for me long before the strains of a show tune stop churning around in my head.  I’m rarely motivated to buy a movie soundtrack (although South Park’s “Blame Canada” is one of my favs) but I’ve got a CD from almost every Broadway production I’ve ever seen.  I know, there’s something corny about actors breaking into song at the drop of a hat, but somehow it strikes a chord (sorry) with me and I just want to belt it out with them.  Fortunately, I recognized that my musical career would be limited by my poor singing voice early in life.  I started lip syncing in school plays just to spare myself unnecessary humiliation.  During the rare times that I was forced to sing a solo, I could see the parents in the audience nudge one another, smug in their assurance that I belonged to someone else.  Regardless, I’ve always loved words set to music and believe that they express emotion far more eloquently than the spoken word.

The musical on film seems to be experiencing another Renaissance with the success of  MOULIN ROUGE. CHICAGO is a treat for those of us who like to rediscover actors who have the depth of talent and the moxy to get out of their comfort zone.  Richard Gere…who knew?  Not only can the guy belt out a show tune, he can dance and do shtick as well.  CHICAGO confirms that Gere is more than just a pretty face.  He does a marionette number with Zellweger that is pure genius.  Speaking of Zellweger, she and Catherine Zeta-Jones were phenomenal.  They pulled off two difficult roles with style.  Both are favorites of mine, but I had no idea just how talented these two actors are until I saw them nail their characters in CHICAGO. 

Hearing John C. Reilly break into song is the rough equivalent to opening your prize envelope in the Cracker Jack box and finding a diamond ring.  I’m sure that in some pictorial guide to acting, Reilly’s picture is displayed with the definition of understatement.  He was beautifully cast in the part of the beleaguered husband, done wrong and dumb enough to be over his head in a foot bath. 

By all means, go see this movie.  You’ll have the tunes banging around in your brain for a few days afterward,  but if breaking into song in the K-Mart is the worst thing you do this week, you’ll do okay.

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January 15, 2003