Chicago

This musical satire plays with murder, the criminal justice system, lawyers and the relationship between men and women. What makes it an art form, in addition to outstanding performances by the key characters, is the amazing integration of song and dance with fantasy and reality.

The film is a musical review more than a story although there is a short straightforward plot. The venue is the roaring twenties in Chicago, but not really. The only concessions to that chronological period are the clothes, the cars and toward the end, a Thompson sub-machine gun as a dance prop. Song and dance is everything, more significant than the players in the story who act like cartoon caricatures of real people. And its this comic book representation that allows us to enjoy the performance and accept or discount the pathos.

However, the theme is adult. Certainly children and possibly teens are not going to understand the cynical portrayal of womanizing men, a manipulating attorney or an incompetent legal system. And cynicism extends to the creation of criminals as American royalty and a celebration of people who do bad things. The film taken literally, as children might, gives the wrong message. Although the film noir metaphors are there, with people represented as puppets and lyrics that declare the whole world is show business performed at the Onyx Club, a dark side reference.

The film is dedicated to Bob Fosse and the first big song in the film is All That Jazz. He is credited for some of the choreography and for me; the dance work in this film was a joy to watch. Also, in the Special Features segment of the DVD you learn that the five main characters do their own singing and dancing. They were good!

The original story for Chicago has a history that begins with the 1927 silent film. It was later remade as Roxie Hart (1942) with Ginger Rogers in the starring role. This recent 2002 production and those previous all have, Maurine Watkins, the playwright in common. She authored a total of 17 plays before her death in 1969 at age 73.

Rene Zellweger plays Roxie Hart, the murderess. She underwent a grueling 10 months of voice and dance training for the film. She had never sung a note in public before her performance in Chicago. You will be surprised. Her recent hit films are Nurse Betty (2000) for which she won a Golden Globe and Bridget Jones Diary (2001).

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Velma Kelly, another murderess. She is a trained singer and dancer, is married to Michael Douglas and has two children. She speaks fluent Welsh. I last saw her in Entrapment (1999), High Fidelity (2000) and Traffic (2000).

Richard Gere plays Billy Flynn, the sleaze-ball attorney. I have not liked his previous work, but he was great in this role. It took him 5 months to learn how to tap dance for the part. A Buddhist, he is billed in his bio as a humanitarian first, actor second. I saw him last in the comedy, Runaway Bride (1999).

Queen Latifah plays Mama Morton, the jail matron. Her name, "Latifah" is Arabic for "delicate and sensitive", which is kind of an oxymoron. She is a famed rap singer who broke into the rap scene in the 80s. Her TV and film career spans a dozen years. All three top billed women in this film are in their early 30s.

John C. Reilly plays Amos Hart, Roxies husband. Reilly sings his own parts. He has become a regular in recent top films appearing in Perfect Storm (2000), The Good Girl (2002) and Gangs of New York (2002).

Chicago won Academy Awards for Best Picture, best Art Direction, best Costume, best Film Editing and best Sound in 2002 films.

Reviewed October 8, 2003