ChicagoDoes fame breed vice, or is it the other way around? Chicago is a musical about a housewife named Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), who has dreams about making it big as a vaudevillian singer/dancer, like her idol, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones)...despite the fact that Velma has recently been imprisoned for the murder of her husband and sister, who was also her co-star on the stage. Roxie is strung along by a furniture salesman named Fred Casely, who seduces her by claiming that he will get her into show business. After a fight, Roxie shoots Fred and is sent to the big house at Cook County Jail to join her idol behind bars.
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Chicago was based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on another play from 1926 by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The 1975 musical is most often attributed to Bob Fosse, who is credited as having co-written the stage "book" (i.e. the plot and characters), with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Yet at least with this film adaptation (directed by Rob Marshal, with a screenplay written by Bill Condon), Fosse's influence is unmistakable. I believe that this has much to do with how similar Chicago is to Fosse's own Oscar-sweeping musical, Cabaret. Both films feel like sisters to one another. They feature a narrative frequently punctuated by musical numbers to set the tone for the story, even more frequently in Chicago than in Cabaret. In fact, Chicago has a glut of musical numbers packed into its almost two hour runtime, starting with the iconic "All That Jazz". But the glitz and glamour, the risque performances, and wild lifestyles of the lady protagonists make these movies more than a little bit similar to one another. Chicago is often credited (among other films around the time) with revitalizing an interest in musical movies. This film is certainly packed with intensely physical performances by the leads who give their all. This is especially true for Zellweger, who gives a complex and nuanced performance as the starstruck Roxie, yet dances and sings with both intensity and vulnerability. Of course the same can be said for Zeta-Jones, as well as Richard Gere, who plays their unscrupulous attorney, Billy Flynn. Each performance with these three is like a fireworks show, an explosion of dance, song, and vivid set design that makes everyday life seem drab. And that's really the point of these musical numbers; they are representations of how the glamour of life on the stage makes Roxie's existence seem meaningless and hopeless, at least to her. It is no surprise that Chicago opens with an extreme close-up of Roxie's eye, set on the stage as she imagines herself up there, wowing the crowd. Being a star is everything to Roxie Hart; that she has to kill for it is ultimately a small price to pay.
Nearly every musical number in Chicago could be attributed to Roxie's fetishization of her dreams of life on the stage. Take for example the "Cell Block Tango". Roxie envisions six various murderesses (including Velma) recalling why they killed their men (or didn't) with the ladies wearing scandalous costumes and performing alluring dances with their men. These scenes are intercut with moments of Roxie hearing each woman's story from the prison they share, where they are far less glamorized than in the song and dance number. This reinforces that these musical interludes are taken right from Roxie's fantasies, and represent an increasing kind of madness in her. The most exposition about Roxie's past comes from a musical number (also titled "Roxie"), which borrows more than a little from Marilyn Monroe's iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from How to Marry a Millionaire. And Roxie is far from a saint, and not just for cheating on her husband, Amos (John C. Reilly), in the first place. It becomes clear that she has always had an inflated sense of self-worth, her pride dictating her actions. So of course savvy opportunists like Billy Flynn or the jail's warden, Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah), pick up on this and use their higher profile clients/prisoners to make their own lives cushier. The Chicago in Chicago is--not unlike the real Chicago--rife with corruption...so much so that it is all but extolled as a virtue. Billy is keenly aware of this, and is--for all intents and purposes--the "ringmaster" in the circus of public opinion, as he explains in his song and dance number, "Razzle Dazzle". He is a surrogate for countless shysters and unscrupulous lawyers, and subsequently the nature of his character is immediately recognizable with little to no exposition needed. (One wonders if guys like Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran used Billy as a template in the O. J. Simpson murder case...) What's interesting, though, is that as Roxie becomes increasingly famous (or infamous) courtesy of Billy's PR campaign to portray her as a victim of a wanton lifestyle inflicted upon her by a cruel and uncaring world, others in her circle of influence--even Amos--have their own musical numbers...as though they were being incorporated into her fantasy world. Although Chicago isn't as consistent with this motif as it should be--namely by way of the ending--it does make Roxie's journey into stardom one that goes hand in hand with madness. Corruption reigns in Chicago, and no one is safe from a descent into superstardom.
Recommended for: Fans of a musical that is absolutely packed with high quality song and dance numbers delivered by talented performers giving truly exceptional performances. (Zellweger's Roxie Hart is right up there with Liza Minnelli's performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret.) Although Chicago lacks some consistency (for instance, the earliest musical numbers look more like contemporary Broadway performances like "Rent" than the vaudeville routines they later aim to emulate), the film works best when it uses the stylish stage fantasies to illustrate Roxie's degrading psychological state. And the pure physicality of the performances recalls Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain for sheer athleticism.
Nearly every musical number in Chicago could be attributed to Roxie's fetishization of her dreams of life on the stage. Take for example the "Cell Block Tango". Roxie envisions six various murderesses (including Velma) recalling why they killed their men (or didn't) with the ladies wearing scandalous costumes and performing alluring dances with their men. These scenes are intercut with moments of Roxie hearing each woman's story from the prison they share, where they are far less glamorized than in the song and dance number. This reinforces that these musical interludes are taken right from Roxie's fantasies, and represent an increasing kind of madness in her. The most exposition about Roxie's past comes from a musical number (also titled "Roxie"), which borrows more than a little from Marilyn Monroe's iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from How to Marry a Millionaire. And Roxie is far from a saint, and not just for cheating on her husband, Amos (John C. Reilly), in the first place. It becomes clear that she has always had an inflated sense of self-worth, her pride dictating her actions. So of course savvy opportunists like Billy Flynn or the jail's warden, Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah), pick up on this and use their higher profile clients/prisoners to make their own lives cushier. The Chicago in Chicago is--not unlike the real Chicago--rife with corruption...so much so that it is all but extolled as a virtue. Billy is keenly aware of this, and is--for all intents and purposes--the "ringmaster" in the circus of public opinion, as he explains in his song and dance number, "Razzle Dazzle". He is a surrogate for countless shysters and unscrupulous lawyers, and subsequently the nature of his character is immediately recognizable with little to no exposition needed. (One wonders if guys like Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran used Billy as a template in the O. J. Simpson murder case...) What's interesting, though, is that as Roxie becomes increasingly famous (or infamous) courtesy of Billy's PR campaign to portray her as a victim of a wanton lifestyle inflicted upon her by a cruel and uncaring world, others in her circle of influence--even Amos--have their own musical numbers...as though they were being incorporated into her fantasy world. Although Chicago isn't as consistent with this motif as it should be--namely by way of the ending--it does make Roxie's journey into stardom one that goes hand in hand with madness. Corruption reigns in Chicago, and no one is safe from a descent into superstardom.
Recommended for: Fans of a musical that is absolutely packed with high quality song and dance numbers delivered by talented performers giving truly exceptional performances. (Zellweger's Roxie Hart is right up there with Liza Minnelli's performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret.) Although Chicago lacks some consistency (for instance, the earliest musical numbers look more like contemporary Broadway performances like "Rent" than the vaudeville routines they later aim to emulate), the film works best when it uses the stylish stage fantasies to illustrate Roxie's degrading psychological state. And the pure physicality of the performances recalls Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain for sheer athleticism.