Chicago

2002 "If you can't be famous, be infamous."
7.2| 1h53m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 27 December 2002 Released
Producted By: Miramax
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

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Reviews

cinephile-27690 I love musicals and Best Picture winners but I think this fails at either. i do not recall the plot but I do remember liking the music. Watch Mojo on YouTube has a list of the worst movies to win Best Picture and this was one of them. Did you know Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York lost to this? Not to mention the awesome Catch Me If You Can wasn't even nominated! I'm sorry, but if you want a recommendation for this, look elsewhere.
ericventura Not surprisingly, this film is adapted from a play. To put it simply, the film feels as if they took the play, filmed it with a nice camera, and put it on the screen. But they did it nicely and made a great film full of fantastic acting, emotion-packed scenes, and vivid visuals.A story of an aspiring showgirl in Chicago, it transcends the shallow emotions of the primary characters, instead painting a rich and deep portrait of tough human emotion with a hint of satire. When caught too deep in the tragedy of the story, Marshall plucks the characters out of the depths and inserts a bit of humor and satire, keeping true to both the subject matter and form of film.To imbue emotion into a musical of this scale is a tremendous and monumental task. But the cast do it. Zellweger, as the main character, portrays a perfect naivety and shallowness, showing off her skills as an experienced and talented actress. Zeta-Jones is a wonderful supporting actress who illuminates the wonderfully paralleled stories and emotions of the two main showgirls. Gere is outrageously funny. Whether by purpose or on accident, he feels out of place and awkward in a musical, adding humor, but still turns in a fine performance. John C. Reilly in his sparse amount of scenes is absolutely splendid. In what must be the best performance of his career, Reilly embodies the character and makes the viewer earnestly pity and understand him. His solo is spectacular.Every song fit. The songs were set up to both parallel the plot and illustrate the plot at the same time. The set-up is not only artistic, but serves a thematic purpose for the film. However, many a times utilizing song as the main instrument in a film detracts from the rest of it. In this case, the music acts to bolster the emotion of the film, effectively conveying the powerful feelings of the character through carefully constructed music, perfectly exuberant acting, and aptly shiny visuals. The incorporation of these songs into the dialogue makes for a brilliantly crafted screenplay. A film of masterful parallelism on all levels and stimulating plot, Chicago is a story of highs and lows, dramatized to the fullest potential.
fradgley-63481 Winning Best Picture at the Oscars in 2002 is a massive achievement and when you watch the film, you can see why. The acting is great and they really set the tone for 1920/1930's jazz era. Charismatic Richard Gere (who plays lawyer Billy Flynn) has a tremendous voice and didn't realise how quite far his range can go. He nails two of the biggest songs on the track - Razzle Dazzle and They Both Reached For The Gun. The latter performed is quite humorous and really shows his ability to manipulate and control the press. I've been quite a fan of Catherine Zeta Jones from her very early days working alongside David Jason in Darling Buds of May. Her acting was fantastic and the dancing routines were well choreographed for her sort of movements. Cell Block Tango was grand and performed really well. John C Reilly is a great singer as well, it's outstanding how they've managed to collaborate these actors together to sing in great harmony. The story line is good, strong and doesn't dwindle. It's a story of romance, comedy, fame and fortune which is represented awesomely! Would recommend to anyone, including those who hate musicals!
SimonJack I wonder if people in 2002 and since have been starved for good musicals. Or could it be just lots of glitter and scintillating sexual innuendo tossed here and there? I first saw "Chicago" on the big screen when it came out years ago. I very much enjoy musicals, and have collected many of the best from decades past on DVD. In watching this movie again recently, I have to reaffirm my first sense of the film. It's wrapped in a very glamorous and glittery package. But the screenplay is crude, much of the dialog is crass, and the talent – well, these are not highly talented singers and dancers. Yes, they have a couple of interesting numbers and dance routines. One can see some natural agility in Catherine Zeta-Jones. But otherwise, this movie just is not that good. How Miramax poured the money into the glitz for this film, and how it promoted it to the hilt! It won six academy awards with several more nominations in a year of almost no competition. This movie is a combination revue and musical play. Where the original play, and the 1942 film, were comedies made as satires, I can see why the author, Maurine Watkins, was reluctant to sell the movie rights for a musical. After her death, her estate did sell the rights to Bob Fosse, Gwen Verdon and Richard Fryer. They wrote a musical score with numbers as individual vaudeville pieces. The 1975 musical play retains the satire of the Chicago corruption of the time – it is evident in the script and the performances. But the 2002 musical movie has numerous changes in the story and from the stage musical. And, it moves the musical performances to the fore, with all the glitter and sexploitation. This should have been a highly talented performance of musical and dance numbers with a story of biting satire. Instead, it's a so-so musical with so-so talented singers and dancers in an elaborate glitzy setting. Any remaining satire comes almost as a whimsical afterthought of that little old corruption in Chicago that really wasn't so bad. Take out the crassness in the dialog, cut down the glitz, put in some better voices and dancers, and work the numbers for the satire and this could be a memorable production.