CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Chicago

Director

Rob Marshall

Year

2002

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Monday, March 24, 2003

Explosive film, adapted from the Kander and Ebb Broadway Musical based on the true story of the “merry murderess” Roxie Hart, whose trial took the world by storm in the 1920s. Years of success on stage gave the play international acclaim, and now this movie even more so. So how is it? Excellent. Let me tell you about it.

Roxie (Renée Zellweger) dreams of becoming a jazz singer, just like Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), famous on stage, infamous now for killing her husband and her sister, who were having an affair. After Roxie murders her lover, who made her believe that he would use his connections to make her a star, she goes to jail too, and finds out that Velma is a star even in there. Everything moves smoothly if you pay “Mama” (Queen Latifah) enough, and freedom is fairly possible if you’ve got the right lawyer: Billy Flynn (Richard Gere).

Now it’s time to make Roxie a star, only that way can she be free. The media is manipulated and Roxie gets quite a makeover, and eclipses even Velma. But it’s all a game, and a cruel one too, so the path is not always pleasant. What’s the price of fame? How long does it last?

All this is told in an original, jazzy, extraordinary way. This film is a standout simply for keeping the feeling of a stage musical but not making it merely stagy or static. Everything is translated to perfection and even the use of light and scenery that made the theater production so great are used in a theater-like cinematographic way that’s unique. I don’t think anyone involved in the production was sure that the result would be ok, but director Rob Marshall pulled it off incredibly, and the success of the movie is quite well-deserved.

Great Kander and Ebb songs include an impressive reprise by Zeta-Jones of “All That Jazz” that sets a high standard in the beginning of the movie, a standard that is never lost or diminished through the film, “When You’re Good To Mama” where Queen Latifah steals the spotlight and makes us love her, “All I Care About” where Gere proves that he can be hilarious, “We Both Reached For The Gun” where both Zellweger and Gere explode in a dummy/puppeteer number of media manipulation, “Mister Cellophane” where John C. Reilly, as Roxie’s husband, breaks our heart, and “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag Medley” where Zellweger and Zeta-Jones wrap up everything perfectly.

Taye Diggs is the bandleader who narrates the film as if it was a jazz show. But heck, it is! Amazing performances with great voices abound and give us a hell of a time where we laugh and feel like applauding constantly. Zellweger doesn’t steal the show… it’s hers already! In my opinion her performance is the very best and she owns the spotlight, singing beautifully and convincing in every phase of her character. She’s followed by Gere, who makes us laugh and has a great personality, Zeta-Jones, who’s gorgeous and threatens to steal her own scenes, Reilly, who touches, and Latifah, whose presence is quite pleasant.

A triumph, all the way!

“Don’t you wanna take my picture?”

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Review

Chicago

Director

Rob Marshall

Year

2002

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

So finally I got to see the movie everyone’s been talking about for so long. The movie that swept the Oscar nominations and the movie that is likely to sweep come Oscar night. The movie that is giving Scorsese a headache but is putting a big smile in Weinstein’s face. The movie that finally got made after so many years of finding funding, a good cast and a viable way of turning the play’s story into a coherent cinematic endeavor. The result… breath-taking!

Chicago, the 20’s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) has always admired Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a flamboyant cabaret performer who is serving some time in prison for the murder of her husband and her sister. Soon Roxie finds herself in the same position after murdering her lover, and thus begins a battle of egos as the two vixens try to grab the media attention with the help of sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), a big personality himself.

To set the record straight, I haven’t seen the Broadway musical, although I’ve been fairly familiar with the story for many years now. To watch the movie version was an out-of-this-world experience, since I had never wanted to applaud so many times during a projection as I did here. Number after number my jaw kept dropping, and as I continued to think there would not be a number to top the one before I kept finding myself embarrassed for having even thought of it.

There sure are some show-stopping numbers that I hail as my favorites. Catherine Zeta Jones’s opening rendition of “All That Jazz” is a stunner. The movie begins with a bang and never ceases to keep the energy level at such a high point. Then there’s the spectacular rendition of the “Cell Block Tango”, in which the choreography is so impressive and the song so imposing and the performances so magnificent and the finale so splendorous that my eyes just couldn’t believe what they had just seen. The final number, “Nowadays”, involving Roxie and Velma, is also a wow.

But what else is there that deserves special mention and that doesn’t include Catherine Zeta-Jones? A lot actually! The trial scene moving to the rhythm of Richard Gere’s “Razzle Dazzle” is expertly shot by director Robert Marshall and impressively staged by the actors, dancers and everyone involved. Gere, and specially Zellweger, also stun in their rendition of “We Both Reached For The Gun”, a musical press conference with Roxie as dummy to Billy’s ventriloquist.

And last but not least there’s John C. Reilly’s “Mr. Cellophane” number, which almost brought tears to my eyes. Heart-breaking!

Credit to whom credit deserves, and the man behind Chicago is Rob Marshall, who makes his debut with this movie and shows impressive range behind the camera. Not only that, but he also choreographed the musical numbers. I don’t know if he’ll live up to what he accomplished here, but Bob Fosse would be proud and I think he deserves all the recognition he’s getting. His work is amazing.

And amazing as well are the performances populating this visually-creative production. For me, there is one actress who owns the movie, and that is Catherine Zeta-Jones. She’s got the chops, the pose, the voice, the moves, the body, the attitude. She commands the screen and devours the part. It’s as if she was born to play Velma. Meanwhile, Renee Zellweger does a good job as well and brings her character the right mix of Marilyn Monroe-like sexiness and innocence, while also being quite tough on the inside.

Supporting players include John C. Reilly, excellent as Roxie’s husband; Queen Latifah, adept as Mama Morton; Christine Baranski, a wonderful Mary Sunshine; and of course Richard Gere, charming as Billy Flynn.

There’s nothing greater than a musical that also makes you think, as Chicago does with its biting social commentary on the media frenzy towards the scandalous, a topic much in vogue nowadays.

Stunning!

“There’s only one business when that’s not problem at all.”

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