癲狂院 Vixen Owl Cigar..。o○

Femme Fatale In Sequins and Lights


Not Quite All that jazz--but Close Enough !!
Whatever else you can say about "Chicago " (and most of what you can say includes the word "pretty" ), it's a brave, gutsy film.
It's a rare movie that gives you more ammunition by way of included analogy.
At one point Renee Zellweger, as our "star" Roxie Hart, declares that she is unperturbed at not really having an act to take to the stage.
After all, she rambles, she will be there, and that's all that matters.
People will want to see her, whether there is any value in what she is doing or not.
At another point, Richard Gere, as lawyer Billy Flynn, belts out a peppy, little number about giving them the old "Razzle Dazzle".
You don't need to worry about the truth, or whether there is anything of substance going on, just give them a bunch of flash and glitter.
In a movie that is pretty clearly nothing but a bunch of cotton-candy flash, and sideshow, sleight-of-hand Razzamatazz that expects us to show up (and like it) because of who will be there, that's pretty brave.

GOOD POINTS

1. The sets, choreography and all the musical set-up etc. were just wonderful. A few numbers, specifically Cell Block Tango (which is six different "merry" murderesses singing about their crimes -- "I didn't do it, but if I did it, how could you tell me that I was wrong?") is fabulous --the singing, dancing, and sets just all come together -- and Catherine Zeta Jones "Act of Desperation" (I don't know if it has a formal name) is wonderful as well.

2. Queen Latifah is very convincing as the dealing/scheming "Mama" but unfortunately is only allowed one of her two (from the original play) songs.

3. John C. Reilly -- sings a song about how he's cellophane and does it to a vaudeville setting as a raggedy clown. He's very good in his acting scenes (and particularly well cast in this role).

4. Lucy Liu -- okay, she's only on screen for maybe 2 minutes as "Go To Hell" Kitty, but she's convincing and fun in those 2 minutes.

5. Catherine Zeta Jones -- I never thought of her as anything other than a pretty face (i.e. from Zorro and Entrapment) and her part in Traffic was really too brief to have a major opinion on, but she's GREAT in this movie. She's just got a presence about her that carries her through all of her scences. Her dancing and sing are very, very good, and really she just carries the whole role. She looks like she's having fun and you leave the theatre thinking she was MADE for the role of Velma Kelly.

【Catherine Zeta-Jones】 Chicago 【Renee Zellweger】
Where the Gin is Cold and the Piano's Hot !!!!!

The non-musical portions of the film are shot in a gritty realism reminiscent of other recent period Chicago dramas such as The Road to Perdition or The Untouchables.
There was some location shooting, but, for the most part Toronto stands in for cost reasons.
This is a Miramax film.
The talented cast have no difficulties going back and forth between these styles.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere both got their start in stage musicals and there's a certain effortlessness to their performances as they return to a style of performing perfected in their youth.
Zeta-Jones throws everything she has into her Velma - guts, sex appeal, and a level of desperation that's uncanny.
Beneath her Louise Brooks bob and a veneer of brittle insouicance, there's a wounded woman and it comes through in spades.
Gere is more laid back than he's been in films for years and obviously having a wonderful time, especially in his grandstanding trial scenes.

Renee Zellweger, who was not trained as a stage musical performer, rises to the occasion.
Her cameo face, beneath its blond marcelled permanent, shows Roxie's hunger for fame and her willingness to use any means necessary to achieve her goals.
Her voice, while not as rich as the other leads, is more than adequate to the task and she has a dancer's control of her body.
Only one person comes close to blowing her off the screen, that's Queen Latifah in the smaller role of Mama Morton.
It's an inspired bit of casting and her big number, When You're Good To Mama, done Bessie Smith style, is a highlight.

In adapting the source material, Marshall cut several numbers.
Most of the deletions are unmissed.
In general, stage musicals require more music than films for the same effect - those films which opt to keep an entire score often end up running three hours and more.
Several of the missing numbers are heard as background scoring and the events covered in them (Me and My Baby, When Velma Takes The Stand ) are handled in other ways.
My Own Best Friend, which exists mainly for the purposes of an Act One finale, was jettisoned completely.
The two other missing numbers are Mary Sunshine's A Little Bit of Good which I would have liked to see as anything that gives Christine Baranski more screen time is good in my book (although the cut is understandable, given a reconception of the character ).
The last missing number Class, a duet for Velma and Mama Morton, was filmed (and the set up for it is there ) but cut late in the film making process for reasons of pacing.

Though Im unimpressed, there is something here.
It does come through on the flash, and a bit of fun.
Several dance numbers are well-executed, and some of the songs will stick in your head.
What "Chicago " seems to want to list as its main assets are the fact that no one has seen a musical in twenty years, and the fact that it gets to attach Bob Fosse's name to itself.
The bottom line comes down to its having very little else to say for itself, and I've seen "Cabaret ".
It's at the bare bones level of being a thing that can call itself a musical, or even a movie.

There's no heart.
There's no emotion.
There's no reason to care what's going on.
There's just a great bunch of people going through the motions, and lots of shiny bits.......

I recommend seeing it if you've eliminated all other options, which is to say that I don't really.
I do not know if Chicago will lead to a revival of the film musical.
It does show, however, that the genre is not dead and that talented people can make musicals to which a modern audience can respond.
Add it to your 'To See' list.


Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, the Music, the High Energy...