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CHICAGO
The Razzle Dazzle Edition
Review by Mark Wiechman
Stars:
Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, John
C. Reilley, Lucy Liu
Audio: DTS, Dolby 5.1 and 2.0
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Director: Rob Marshall
Features: See Review
Studio: Miramax
Length: 113 minutes
Release Date: December 20, 2005
“When
you’re good to mama, mama’s good to you…”
Film ****
Stage musicals don’t always work as
movies. Simply filming the musical
as it is normally performed does not work because the electricity of the live
performance is lost. Making big
changes to a successful musical when making it into a movie is messing with
success and that rarely works either. Bringing
in new stars is also chancy, let alone an untested director. The only way to make it work is to combine movie magic with
musical magic that fires on all cylinders, and once in a while it all works.
Chicago does just that.
Director Rob Marshall, who was
lavishly thanked and praised by his stars on Oscar night, got it all right.
He took most of the legendary Bob Fosse’s choreography, combined it
with first-rate musical performances, and brought a cynical, sexy, and exciting
show to life in what will surely be the definitive production.
The point of the story seems to be that everyone has to have their own
act together in their own way. It
is hard to believe that jazz and gin were once seen as harbingers of the end of
the world, but it definitely seemed fun!
He
had it coming…he had it coming…he only had himself to blame…
I hesitate to tell too much of the
story because it will spoil the movie (that, or I’m just lazy).
The essential story is this: Velma
Kelly (Zeta-Jones) is a nightclub sensation who is imprisoned for killing her
husband after she catches him doing the "spread-eagle" with her
sister. Roxie Hart (Zellweger) is a
show-biz wannabe who kills her boyfriend when she discovers he is married.
Her sappy but sweet husband (Reilly) believes her and hires a slick
attorney (Gere) to defend her. The
women end up on the same "murderer's row" in prison under the watchful
eye of Mama (Latifah). They compete
for public sympathy as they consider whether to be friends or enemies.
Understandable,
understandable, yes it's perfectly understandable…
Several highlights include Richard
Gere actually enjoying himself, singing and tap-dancing like a pro (who knew?),
Queen Latifah showing her singing and acting chops, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
finally getting her Oscar and her due as a true modern legend.
Director Rob Marshall (what a perfect
name for a movie director) says in the commentary that "Roxie" was the
big movie number with its incredible mirror effects and Zellweger shining in a
way that is bawdy and sophisticated at the same time ("I started fooling
around, then screwing around…which is fooling around without dinner").
The most arousing number is definitely "Cell Block Tango" which
is shot at a different camera speed which emphasizes the excitement and features
rapidly changing camera angles, which of course, are impossible in theatre.
But the crowning moment of the whole film to me was John C. Reilly as
Amos Hart singing “Mr. Cellophane”. Every
note is pure, his makeup and dance are perfect, and he almost steals the show
from the ladies even though his character was truly transparent until he sings
his song. Bravo! Where is his Oscar?
Many viewers have compared this movie
to Moulin Rouge, which is really not
fair because Chicago was already a
legendary show, whereas Moulin Rouge
took existing music and reworked it with plenty of special effects.
Rouge practically created a new
genre but took an almost sci-fi approach to production (visually and musically),
whereas Chicago is a movie version which fulfills the potential of a great
musical. They are similar but to
look at them the same way is ignorant and to suggest that you can like one but
not the other is like suggesting that you cannot like apples and oranges, too.
And I can't let my review end without
saying that Renee and Catherine look great, thank you very much!
Video ***
Parts of the film are the crispest I
have seen, but then in both daytime and dark scenes, the picture turns splotchy.
I watched it on my regular DVD player and my PC also, and it is the
crispest transfer I have seen most of the time, but then in the dark cell block
of Velma's "act of desperation" the
background looks pasted together.
Audio ****
The DTS is especially thumpy and the
mix is perfect, especially in the Cell Block Tango number in which we can
clearly hear the band, the singers, and the narration.
The original theatrical release deserved an Oscar for sound and the
transfer to 5.1 worked perfectly.
Features ****
The
important special features on the original release are here as well: director's
commentary and deleted scene "Class." The second disc contains
most of the new features and earns an extra star. The "Behind the
Scenes" featurette has been re-made into the extended scenes featurettes on
this version. While many of the featurettes are the usual mutual
admiration society drivel, we do learn a great deal about why the film worked.
And of course most if not all of the mutual admiration is well-deserved.
The only new feature on the first disc is From Stage to Screen: The History of
Chicago which is very interesting because it shows clips of the original play,
which became the musical. The original show is exciting but looks so small
on TV and shows how most musicals do not work in movie form. Apparently
Miramax had the rights to the musical for years, and probably would never have
been made at all if not for Rob Marshall (more on that below.) The best part of
this feature is an interview with the late Jerry Orbach, who played Billy Flynn
in the original Broadway show. He points out that the original promotion
was not a big hit because it opened just after A Chorus Line and because it was
such a dark story with such provocative choreography from Bob Fosse. (Of
course, the movie version of that production had problems, and Chicago on film
was a hit from the start.)
The extended performances are only slightly "extended," there are
multiple angles showing rehearsal footage, views from behind the camera, and the
making of each number. For instance, we see both Catherine and Renee sing
the same "Jaaaaaaz!" syllable, which in the finished movie is merged
so that Renee sings that one syllable. These are probably only interesting
to the most rabid fan.
There is extensive footage and narration of Renee learning "Nowadays."
It turns out she had very little experience singing and Rob Marshall actually
auditioned her at the Four Seasons restaurant. Studio footage shows the
slow but successful process of learning the tune, but "Start to
Finish" is just a catchphrase, the song is never played start to finish.
These are merely "Behind the Music" moments, nothing more.
The rehearsal footage is more interesting because we meet many of the
choreographers and dancers, who discuss how they kept the Fosse inspiration but
made it original to this production. Tons of rehearsal went into these as
well.
We also learn that the legendary Chita Rivera, the original Velma Kelly, was one
of the cell block women who speaks to Renee when she first comes to the joint,
and talks about the original Broadway production. She had to move around
with cell bars having to stay in certain positions, and marveled at how this
movie had real bars. Rob Marshall mentioned how nice it was to have her
present to more or less give the production her own stamp of approval. She
was thrilled to be a part of this production and inspired the cast, especially
the dancers. Her only regret was that she only had to do her one part, and
that's all, instead of staying for the whole production or actually doing the
show every night.
For some reason the piece about bringing Liza Minnelli into the show on Broadway
has less than half the volume level of the other pieces. It really has
nothing to do with the movie but is interesting anyway. Apparently Liza
insisted that there be no advance notice, only an announcement each night that
she was in the role. Liza is shown on the Dinah Shore show with Chita
unexpectedly showing up and singing "Nowadays" with her.
Probably this is only fascinating to more serious fans.
Though short, two other featurettes are very worthwhile because they were both
about Oscar winners, neither of whom had worked on musicals before. Production
Designer John Myhre is fun and enthusiastic as he shows us around the sets and
Costume Designer Colleen Atwood is praised by her co-workers as having excellent
taste and not being afraid to go beyond what was done in the original musical.
The VH1 Behind the Movie has the usual overblown superlatives but does reveal
interesting footage such as Zeta-Jones dancing on British television. The
"Intimate Look at Rob Marshall" was better than I expected, largely
because the original composers of Chicago knew him well, and even though he had
never directed a film before, everyone praised his ability to make everyone feel
safe and comfortable on set. He had done choreography for several Disney
Television specials and admitted that when he did shows before, he envisioned
them on TV or film without actually doing the step of directing them to that
end.
I was disappointed that the original release did not have a commentary track
from the stars, and that is still absent, but they do several brief interviews
which serve the same purpose.
Summary:
The roaring twenties, or the new millennium? A timeless musical is brought to life using modern cinematography starring Hollywood's top talents. Picture of the year? You bet! DVD of the year? Not quite, but still a must for any collection.