Chicago Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)January 29th, 2003
CHICAGO (2002) / *** 1/2
Directed by Rob Marshall. Screenplay by Bill Condon, based on the play by Marine Dallas Watkins and the musical by Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse and John Kander. Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere. Running time: 113 minutes. Rated PG for mild language by the MFCB. Reviewed on January 27th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Wannabe jazz singer Roxie Hart (Zellweger) is arrested for murdering her lover and is sent to death row. There she meets her idol, Veronica Kelly (Zeta-Jones), who recently shot her husband and her sister when she discovered they were having an affair. With the help of the prison matron (Queen Latifah) and her gullible husband (John C Reilly), Roxie hires Veronica's flashy lawyer, Jimmy Flynn (Gere). In order to save Roxie from the hangman's noose, Jimmy must make her a star. But will Veronica sit back and let her thunder be stolen?
Review: It's probably too early to say that the musical has been resurrected, but in the wake of "Moulin Rouge!" and now "Chicago", it's at least got a pulse. Unlike the endlessly inventive "Moulin", "Chicago" is a more traditional musical-on-film, to the extent that at times it almost feels like you're watching a stage show. The most prominent way Marshall tries to take advantage of the cinematic medium is by portraying the song-and-dance numbers as products of Roxie's imagination. But this is only marginally successful: those who disdain musicals because they regard ordinary people bursting into song as ludicrous probably won't find the distinction satisfactory, while everyone else will likely see it as unnecessary. But that's not to take away from a wonderfully entertaining two hours. Amongst the highlights: a dance routine involving the death row inmates relating, in absurdly seductive style, how they killed their husbands, and another which portrays the media as puppets dancing to Jimmy Flynn's tune, indicative of "Chicago"'s cynical outlook on society. Zeta-Jones steals the show as Veronica Kelly, bringing genuine glamour to the proceedings. Zellweger is nicely cast in the role of Roxie, her actual inexperience with the genre serving to perfectly reflect the character's musical flaws without making "Chicago" any less watchable.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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