"Chicago" is undoubtedly a dazzling, entertaining, energetic musical, well worth seeing. I had no reservations at all about it as I walked out of the theater, two nights prior to its winning the best picture Oscar. Seeing it again on video though left me with a doubt or two.
Rob Marshall did an outstanding job directing the movie. The photography is sensational, some of the best lighting and camerawork I've ever seen. (It looks as good on DVD as it did on the big screen.) The musical numbers are thrilling, esp. the "We Both Reached for the Gun" scene with Richard Gere manipulating both a mannequin-like Rene Zellweger and the media. And the acting is some of the year's best. Gere has never been better in a movie, and Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah turn in strong, hypnotically sexy work.
That's the good news, which there's lots of. Unfortunately, "Chicago" doesn't hold up well where characters and story are concerned. I just didn't have anybody to root for. Roxie Hart is essentially a heartless b---- who exhibits no growth whatsoever, just a greater hunger for attention and manipulation. Velma Kelly, well, she's just a hyper-sexual killer, and Gere's Billy Flynn is just another scheming lawyer who'd do anything to win a case. John C. Reilly's character, "Mr. Cellophane," ends the picture on a flat note -- just a loser, fallen victim to Roxie's celebrity. What are we to make of all this? That crime pays? That we should feel good about these characters?
The writing is also a little muted. There are few zingers outside the song lyrics, and the basic story seems trite and forced. I couldn't tell if the movie ended on a "realistic" note, or if it had morphed into some kind of crazy, surrealistic cartoon. You're sort of left wondering, what was the point?
A note about the songs: They're good fun during the movie, but I'll be darned if I can remember a single line or lyric, much less a whole chorus, from any of them.
Don't get me wrong: "Chicago" is a good movie. It just makes me want to go back and watch "Cabaret" and "All That Jazz" (also Bob Fosse productions) on DVD.
Rob Marshall did an outstanding job directing the movie. The photography is sensational, some of the best lighting and camerawork I've ever seen. (It looks as good on DVD as it did on the big screen.) The musical numbers are thrilling, esp. the "We Both Reached for the Gun" scene with Richard Gere manipulating both a mannequin-like Rene Zellweger and the media. And the acting is some of the year's best. Gere has never been better in a movie, and Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah turn in strong, hypnotically sexy work.
That's the good news, which there's lots of. Unfortunately, "Chicago" doesn't hold up well where characters and story are concerned. I just didn't have anybody to root for. Roxie Hart is essentially a heartless b---- who exhibits no growth whatsoever, just a greater hunger for attention and manipulation. Velma Kelly, well, she's just a hyper-sexual killer, and Gere's Billy Flynn is just another scheming lawyer who'd do anything to win a case. John C. Reilly's character, "Mr. Cellophane," ends the picture on a flat note -- just a loser, fallen victim to Roxie's celebrity. What are we to make of all this? That crime pays? That we should feel good about these characters?
The writing is also a little muted. There are few zingers outside the song lyrics, and the basic story seems trite and forced. I couldn't tell if the movie ended on a "realistic" note, or if it had morphed into some kind of crazy, surrealistic cartoon. You're sort of left wondering, what was the point?
A note about the songs: They're good fun during the movie, but I'll be darned if I can remember a single line or lyric, much less a whole chorus, from any of them.
Don't get me wrong: "Chicago" is a good movie. It just makes me want to go back and watch "Cabaret" and "All That Jazz" (also Bob Fosse productions) on DVD.