Stars Renée Zellweger and Richard
Gere won Golden Globes for their portrayals of Roxie Hart
and Billy Flynn in this adaptation of the classic Bob Fosse
Broadway musical (which also won a Golden Globe for Best Musical
or Comedy). Director Rob Marshall presents a dazzling
view of the glamour and corruption of life in 1920s Chicago. The
film starts with a dreamy Roxie watching her idol, Velma Kelly (Catherine
Zeta-Jones), strut her stuff on stage at a night club.
Later that night, Velma is arrested for the murder of her sister
and husband. One month later, Roxie shoots her lover for lying to
her. Both ladies end up in jail on “murderess row”.
Roxie watches as Velma’s fame shoots to all time highs with
the help of lawyer Billy and guard Mama Morton (Queen Latifah),
and she decides to do the same thing. Only Roxie goes even farther
than Velma, incurring Velma’s wrath while gaining the public’s
adoration.
The performances
by all of the lead actors in Chicago (also including John
C. Reilly as Roxie’s husband Amos) are outstanding.
Although Zeta-Jones has the best voice and dancing ability of the
group, all do a wonderful job, with Zellweger holding her own in
a final blowout number with Zeta-Jones, and Gere performing a skillful
tap dance. The integration of the many musical numbers into the
main story is the best I have seen ever done in a film musical.
My only disappointment was with the story which, while more fleshed
out than in the original musical, is still pretty sketchy on character
details. But overall, Chicago is definitely a place in
which you will enjoy spending a couple of hours!
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