"Chicago:" The Decadence of Elitist Cinema

The Rational Argumentator ^ | February 16, 2003 | G. Stolyarov II

[Maceman]

This movie sucked worse than anything has ever sucked before. The songs -- maybe with the exception of "All That Jazz" -- are utterly unforgettable.

The dancing is awful and phony -- all put together with cuts and editing to make it look like people can dance when they really can't. Kind of like when they try to make it look like Bruce Willis is a martial arts expert.

I hated almost every minute of this movie. I was dragged to it by my wife, who loves dance. I suffered through the thing, only to find out that my wife hated it too. I didn't want to spoil her evening by telling her during the movie how much I was hating it, so she figured I liked it, even though she was hating it too.

Turns out she would have been happy to walk out on it if I had only let her know I was feeling the same way. I guess there's a lesson there about honesty in a relationship. If I were a movie critic, I would not give stars, but watches -- one watch for every time I looked at mine during the flick. This one was a five watcher.

Major turkey. Can't believe it got so many nominations.

[oyez]

The dancing is awful and phony

Hollywood goes so big on casting personalities. Its a shame they don't go to Broadway and recuit real troopers like they did in "All That Jazz". I suspect that Zeta-Jones and Renee' Z.'s dancing is mostly special effects.

[snowstorm12]

I loved it and thought it was great. I especially loved the cell block tango where they sing about killing their husbands and boyfriends.
I can't wait to get it on dvd.
I will put it right next to my other favorite musical dvd of Jesus Christ Superstar.

[jlogajan]

Why were we supposed to sympathize with Elvie and her father? Because they appreciated Stars.

Actually, that was their form of escapism as they both were non-assertive, Elvie to the point of being an anti-social recluse. As such it was merely benign, but also a bit pathetic.

Elvie was a head case throughout the movie. Only in the end does she take the first steps toward normal human interactions. I didn't see any deeper meanings in the theme other than a vehicle to showcase the star's singing talent amid some actors portraying uncaring or exploitive characters.

[LanaTurnerOverdrive]

Lighten up, Francis.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"All That Jazz" was directed by Bob Fosse, he basically choreographed his own death.

Fosse would have thrown Richard Gere out of the set the second he tried to dance.

[montag813]

The plot of the film is so primitive that I likely would have been able to write a similar scenario at the age of five using my left foot.

This writer is an imbicile. He should put that foot in his mouth.

[oyez]

I just saw the road performance of 42nd Street last night, so movie musicals, to me, just generally don't cut it.

[lorrainer]

I loved both movie versions of "Little Shop of Horrors," too. The 2nd movie (a great musical) was from the Broadway play, which was from the 1st movie.

[Ziva]

I've seen the Broadway show twice, and the movie six times. Yes, I enjoyed it immensely. The costumes in the 1995 Broadway revival for all the characters was basically underwear, particularly for the dance numbers. They were more covered up in the movie. The show has the entire orchestra in the middle of the stage in bleachers. There are virtually no props.

The 1975 show was based on the 1943 movie called "Roxie Hart" starring Ginger Rogers and Adolph Menjuie (sp). The story is based on a true story of two murderesses in the 1920s. Reporter Maureen Watkins wrote a stage play in 1927 based on her coverage of the crimes. (I own two copies of the original play.)

It is interesting to see how the show has changed in each incarnation, but a great deal of it has remained the same. (In the 1943 movie, Roxie gets divorced and marries one of the reporters.) By reading the original play, you can see the inspiration for many of the songs, most of which I thoroughly enjoy.

I dragged my reluctant husband to see it yesterday. He hates musicals, and didn't like this one either, calling it a "chick flick." I asked a number of other men exitting the theater their reactions, and the ones I spoke to really enjoyed it.

I don't see any of the characters coming across as particularly sympathetic, except for the husband Amos. So what? Does it show decadence? Sure it does - that was what the jazz age was about. Decadence led to crime, even though it was used as a false excuse, in a sense, it really was the reason for the crimes.

The seeming temporary celebrity of the murderesses was shown to indeed be the celebrity of freaks, as Roxie said. The public in the film were not so taken with the women because of their criminality but because of the sensationalism and novelty, and they proved quite fickle.

I avoid many films for moral reasons, but this one just doesn't strike me as deserving approbation.

[ikka]

I would point out that what I took away from the movie is:

The characters are so simply drawn that it is obvious to the objective observer what is going on. The woman did kill her husband, deserves life without parole or even the death penalty, etc. The CHUMPS in this drama are the adoring public, who make a celebrity out of a female thug. Without Roxie having any celebrity imparted to her by the public, she would have been in jail. A society gets what it tolerates.

[ggekko]

"Chicago" is a childish, stupid movie but it does illustrate a phenomena which is plaguing Hollywood: the curse of post-modernism.

At this point in time we lack writers of depth and broad culture. The screenwriting profession is even more bereft of talent with the possible exception of David Mamet (whose output has been very incosistent).

Hollywood's solution to the cultural decline problem is to endlessly recycle movies and themes from 1930s, 1940s and 1950s; Hollywood's Golden Age. Many of the re-hashed mvoies become insufferable because auteur-influenced directors attempt to make ironic references to the original film either cinematographically or in terms of the plot.

"Chicago" is another sad example of this trend being drenched in cynical cliches and attemtps to be too clever.

[BillyBoy]

>> Something about the film stank <<

As a resident of the Chicagoland area, I object to the film's title. Should be called "Toronto" because that's where 99% of it was filmed. Hollywood loves to cash in on famous places WITHOUT even bothering to show up there. What you see on the screen is certainly not "Chicago".

Chicago will cringe if "Chicago" wins for best picture. The movie has done very poorly here.

[motexva]

Well, it couldn't be much worse than "Daredevil."

[driftless]

Don't feel bad. I had to sit through "Chocolat" with my fiancee. Talk about torture! After it was done, she didn't ask me what I thought about it, and I didn't tell her. Let's just say that "Chocolat" left a bitter taste.

[sonserae]

This review is pure drivel.

[Seeking the truth]

Double ditto.

My wife, an ex-dancer with hoofer aspirations (in addition to being an RN & MBA), has wanted to see this since it came out. She used to dance to Fosse's stuff.

Anyhow, she finally convinced this "Hollyweird Hater" to go.

I'm glad I did. It was a good date/spouse flick. I must confess I actually enjoyed it, including the plot.

[Seeking the truth]

Luis "Maramba King" Gonzalez!

[HeartofGold]

I saw Little Voice, too and got a different message. The relationship with the mother and her boyfriend towards the girl was very abusive. She finally breaks free from them and it doesn't seem like being a star meant a thing to her, her singing was a connection to her dead father who loved her. I liked the movie and enjoyed the musical impressions which were actually sung by the actress.
I also saw Chicago and was very disappointed. I agree with this article, it was a waste of time and money.

[Smittie]

Seeing the name Richard Gere in the credits should give anyone a clue not waste their $7.00 on the film.