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Chicago Let me be brutally honest upfront and say that I'm no fan of the musical genre. With a couple of notable exceptions such as The Wizard of Oz, Moulin Rouge and Dancer in the Dark, as soon as someone slips into song, I'm looking for the exit sign. So although I wasn't strictly dragged kicking and screaming to the movie theatre, it would be fair to say that I didn't have high hopes for this movie. Chicago is based on the Broadway show, which is a revival of an earlier show by Bob Fosse, which was only a mild hit, which in turn is based on a satirical play written in 1926.
The latest Broadway version of Chicago seems to have been in the right place at the right time and has garnered rave reviews and clutch of Tony awards since it opened in 1996. Chicago has been a huge success on this side of the Atlantic, too, giving audiences an irony-free show, full of 1920s glamour and catchy, high-steppin' showtunes. You can easily imagine how the success of Baz Luhrmann’s opulent Moulin Rouge made studio execs greenlight a bunch of musicals and Chicago is the first off the conveyor belt.
Stir in box-office certs Catherine Zeta-Jones as fading star Velma Kelly and Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart, and you have room for a couple of wild cards such as the unexpected choice of Richard Gere for lawyer Billy Flynn, and John C Reilly as Roxie’s long-suffering husband Amos.
Whereas the stage version of Chicago was a straight ahead musical, the movie adopts a slightly different approach, with the music becoming a symptom of Roxie’s star-struck mind. For this reason, the song Class was cut from the movie as it didn't fit with this concept, but fans of the show will be relieved to know that the remainder of the songs have made it into the film version intact.
The year is 1927 and in the Windy City of Chicago crimes of passion have sent two women to prison. Sultry stage performer Velma Kelly discovered her husband was having an affair with her sister and killed them both, while the wannabe starlet Roxie Hart was seduced and dumped by a guy who told her he could open showbusiness doors for her. In a fit of rage, she pulls out her husband’s revolver and shoots the guy dead. Her husband, Amos, gamely decides to take the rap for her, but on discovering that the dead man was Roxie’s lover changes his story. Both women try to use their sex appeal and desire for publicity to win over the public and their respective juries.
They are assisted by the roguish attorney-at-law, Billy Flynn, who is an expert at representing glamorous clients. Flynn plays the two women off against each other as the movie makes unsubtle comments on the hollowness and fickle nature of fame. Gere is a revelation—not because he’s outstanding in his role—but because he’s singing and hoofing at all, and seems to be enjoying himself . He has the smug grin of someone who knows he’s confounding expectations and, at last, starring in a movie that’s destined to be a world-wide hit. Gere’s handsome face and infectious enthusiasm make sure he carries off the role, even if he’s not going to set the world alight with his singing and dancing skills.
The real revelation is John C Reilly as Roxie’s long suffering husband, who has previously appeared in an eclectic bunch of movies such as Gangs of New York, The Thin Red Line and Boogie Nights. He’s just about the only sympathetic character in Chicago and brings real emotion and vocal talent to the part.
Queen Latifah as Matron “Mama” Morton leads the supporting cast that includes Taye Diggs as the bandleader, a cameo from Lucy Liu in the role of an angry murderess (Liu really has cornered the market in angry women) and a standout performance from Ekaterina Schelkanova as fellow death row prisoner Hunyack.
Whether you like this movie depends largely on whether you like musicals and how thickly you like your cheese sliced. Director Rob Marshall has clearly crafted his movie with energy and love, so I feel a bit sheepish not really warming to it. Beyond a vague suspicion of musicals, I can’t put my finger on what I don’t like about the movie, although Catherine Zeta-Jones’ unexpectedly chunky thighs gave me nightmares and are certainly one of the main reasons why I won’t be buying the DVD.
I suspect it may be the unsympathetic nature of the main characters: I found I wasn't rooting for anyone in particular. Perhaps it was the kitsch Broadway version of the Jazz age that seemed a Technicolor pastiche of the real thing. Much has been made of Zeta-Jones’ singing and dancing ability, and to be sure her background on the London stage has prepared her for the role, but I didn’t find anything particularly amazing in her performance, and she was gamely matched by Zellweger, although tight editing may have helped.
I couldn’t help wondering what a movie based on Maurine Dallas Watkins’ 1926 play rather than Bob Fosse’s 1975 musical would be like. It seemed that the satirical nature of the plot was being swamped by the razzmatazz of the songs and chereography. Remove them and replace them with a touch of real Chicago grit and I’m sure the result would be a better movie. I know that’s heresy to Bob Fosse fans, and probably missing the point of the whole movie, but to them I say, go and rent Fosse’s marginally better All That Jazz and the classic Cabaret.
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