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Chicago (Full Screen Edition) Customer Reviews (73 - 75 of 120 Reviews)

Now that's Chicago ! (4.5 out of 5)
Within the movie, you can feel the Fosse stage charisma for what parts crave dancing / singing, and a few others, while other scenes do mix in well as movie made moments.

The characters are more than fine and dandy, carrying tunes with golden voices, attitude, and a lot of sweat. Zeta-Jones steals the show throughout as the woman of women in show buisness "Velma Kelly". Her vixen stares to the audience and her commanding strong voice (wow!) is showstopping ! But don't stop the show!

Renee Zellweger's voice almost equals Jones, her Roxie Hart becoming a yearner for the fame and attention of show buisness and the media. Even Hart's confused husband who can't make up his mind about his murdering wife (John C. Reiley) carries the favourite tune, 'Mr. Celophane' and makes it sound so vaudeville perfect. Also check out the beautiful Queen Latifah, making sure all of her little girls in the prison ward she runs stay in line, for a litte cash. Just call her 'Mama'. Man, can she sing !

Richard Gere is an above average singer and good tap dancer, but makes his best as a lawyer who never loses. My favourite moments is when our cool bandleader comes around. Taye Diggs always has his voice heard in any part/room/moment of the movie when a song is starting. His smooth voice, and smooth intro's of anyone and any song was neat to anticipate. The man!

Every environment/place/room was set to the tea for a flapper and jazz era story.

That's Chicago.

Yongjoon writes
Apparently, musicals are back in style these days. Last year's, Moulin Rouge hinted the return of the genre in Hollywood. This year, it is back in full form with much flair in Rob Marshall's Chicago.
Musical used to be a staple of Hollywood during its golden age. At its peak , it produced such unforgettable classics such as My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, and the Sound of Music. However, in the late sixties the genre started to lose its steam and since then it was slowly phased out from the silver screen. Those in the film industry attributed the main cause of its demise to the audience's change of taste. The audience had simply grown tired of the form. Others cited problems with the budget which tended to snowball in most movie adaptations of a stage production. Whatever its reason , it seemed true that musical was finally dead. However, after decades of hiatus, people are once again ready to embrace the genre, and for the most part, Chicago does not disappoint us.
The film revolves around two murderesses, a somewhat famous chorus singer named Velma Kelly(played by Catherine Zeta-jone) and a nonentity called Roxie Hart(played by Renee Zellweger) who aspires to perform on stage just like Velma. Coincidentally, fate has it that both of them end up in jail for murdering their lovers who had done them wrong. At first there's no doubt that they are on a sure-fire track to the gallows. But then a publicity-seeking hot shot lawyer by the name of William Flynn (played by Richard Gere) takes an interest in their case. At first, Velma receives much of the attention since she already had a semi-celebrity status. However Flynn starts to discover Roxie's talent in dazzling the public. As the story progresses, the two vixens vie against one another to hog the attention of their lawyer and more importantly , the spotlight from the public. Soon the crimes they committed start to become less important than what they are wearing for their trial.
The movie brims with mordant criticism of how the American trial system can be susceptible to the influence of the media. Such critiques aren't exactly covering new territory. During the past decade, we saw a surge of such criticism in the wake of the O.J. Simpson's case, Lorena Bobbitt's case, Tanya Harding's case and numerous others. There have been movies made about it too. In Gus Van Sant's To Die For, Nicole Kidman played a similar type of publicity-addict. In Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, a pair of mass murderers were given the spotlight.
The movie Chicago is based on a famous Broadway play during the 70's which is in turn based on a novel. The novel itself is said to draw as its source from a real life event in the 20's with a story similar to Roxie and Velma's. As one can see, the bond between crimes and the media goes back a long time.
So how does the movie fare? As I said before it does not disappoint us. The two leads , Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones throw themselves out there with a palpable conviction. There's no question that these two stars invested a lot of time in getting their dance routines right. Equally impressive is the supporting ensemble cast, including Ricahrd Gere as the smarmy lawyer, Queen Latifah as the 'matron Momma', John C. Reilly as the cuckold husband, and Christine Baranski as the sycophantic reporter. If my count is correct, there are about ten musical numbers, nine of which that takes place in Roxie's imagination. Credits should be given to the script writers for coming up with such a clever story device. As for the singing, however, my feelings are divided. Some of them are excellent. Queen Latifah is naturally good (she's better known for her music career after all), John C. Reilly delivers a surprisingly luscious voice, and as for Catherine Zeta-Jones, to hear her belt out the opening tune 'All that jazz', should alone be worth the admission price of 7000 wons. But Renee Zellweger's singing leaves much to be desired. Although it isn't exactly bad, it's not all that impressive either. She suffers from the same problem Nicole Kidman faced in Moulin Rouge. She simply doesn't have a strong enough voice. However compared to Richard Gere's singing, hers is Pavarotti. I expect the audience to cringe as I did when he gets his voice running. Some people should just not be allowed to sing.
At the moment, Chicago is the front runner in the Oscar race with thirteen nominations including Best Picture. I expect the film to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar, not because I believe the film is a masterpiece, but because the competition is so weak. Although I do not feel the picture deserves a space on the mantelpiece alongside the likes of The God Father or Schindler's List, I do admit to having enjoyed two hours of good entertainment. 5,6,7,8..hit it! "All that jaaazzzz¡­!"

A Wonderful Movie...and All That Jazz
It's hard to find words to describe how amazing the movie Chicago is. You really have to see it to understand it. But I'll try to give you a tiny glimpse into this multi-Oscar winning movie.
Velma Kelly (who was played by Oscar winning Supporting Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a famous vaudeville dancer. When it's discovered that Velma murdered her sister and husband, however, she's sent straight to death row. While this is all unfolding, Roxie Hart (played wonderfully by Renée Zellweger) has dreams of being a singing superstar. When the man that she's having an affair with tells her that she's nothing and never will be anything, she's follows Velma's footsteps and murders him. Roxie soon joins Velma in the Cook County Prison.
While there, they become acquainted with Matron Mama Morton, a generous, yet slick prison guard played by Queen Latifah. Velma, through her connections with Mama, hires Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to take her case. In his entire law career, he has never lost a case. Roxie understands that the only way to guarantee her freedom is to get him to represent her, so her faithful husband Amos (John C. Reilly) pays him the steep fee to take her trial.
Through songs, dance numbers, and unbelievable acting, Chicago shows the story of greed and corruption in the Windy City during the 1920's. All of the characters sing and dance wonderfully. First-time director Rob Marshall designs this masterpiece of cinema, which was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards. If there's one movie out on video now that needs to be seen, that's Chicago!

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