It’s the 1920’s in downtown Chicago where murder has almost become an art and so called crimes of passion result in celebrity status for many of the females currently occupying the city’s famed Murderess Row. Blonde bombshell Roxie Hart(Renee Zelleweger) is married to loyal and dependable mechanic Amos(John C. Reilly) who’d do anything to make her happy but her overwhelming desire to be famous causes her to stray. Temptation proves just too much for Roxie when, after years of dreaming of fame as a Vaudeville star, handsome furniture salesman Fred Casely(Dominic West) lures her into his bedroom with promises of contacts on the Vaudeville circuit.

Cue Billy Flynn(Richard Gere) on his white horse in full armour. But will he be Roxie’s shining knight? He’s the best criminal lawyer the state of Illinois has to offer and his services come at a price, namely $5,000. Money Roxie doesn’t have. But when an unlikely benefactor pays for his services Roxy finds herself vying for the arrogant lawyer’s attention. He’s good and he knows it. He even has the nerve to boast that if "Jesus Christ was alive in Chicago today and had $5,000 things might have been different". And Roxie’s not his only client in Cook County Jail. Fresh from her money making days as a Vaudeville vixen Velma Kelly has also managed to produce Billy’s fee and isn’t happy that now Roxie is on the scene Flynn seems more concerned with making Roxie a local legend than working on tactics to secure her own freedom. While Roxie’s column inches are increasing faster than the meter in a taxi cab Velma is fast fading into obscurity and consequently does her best to make Roxie’s life a misery. But Billy’s doing his job, the public can’t get enough of the vulnerable and naïve "Roxie Hart" he has invented and it looks like freedom may be on the cards for the guilty girlie.

This film is nothing short of amazing, with six Oscars to its name, including that for Best Picture, it is 109 minutes of dazzling entertainment. The adaptation from stage to screen is entirely successful and the music and choreography combined make a spectacular film. When a character begins to sing the dull monotony of prison life is often contrasted against a dream world where they are in fact performing to an audience reflecting Roxie’s dream life. Having an announcer to introduce each number also contributes to this effect. This could have become a farce when the character’s descended into song but the strength of the musical numbers and the acting prevented it from doing so. At one point I actually forgot that I was in the cinema rather than the theatre and the urge to clap was so overwhelming that I nearly had to sit on my hands.

Another highlight is "We both reached for the gun". This song takes place when Roxie has her first press conference and shows her as Billy Flynn’s ventriloquist’s dummy. This scene is fantastically done, showing how Billy is putting every word in Roxie’s mouth and is also very funny. In one section Roxie slips out of character giving a glimpse of what she is really like revealing just how much Billy is manipulating the press in her favour and is hilarious. Renee Zelleweger and Richard Gere are amazing in this scene and make it one of the films most memorable moments.

Renee Zelleweger confirms her place as one of Hollywood’s top actresses with another top performance matching, if not exceeding, the great performance she previously gave as a certain British singleton with a love of big knickers. She looks amazing, although a little thin, and her voice is great. It’s just a shame she was up against Nicole Kidman’s performance in The Hours at the Oscars, otherwise in my opinion she would have run away with it. Prior to seeing the film I had hear some negative feedback about Richard Gere’s voice but in my opinion he sounded fine, if not a little British, and completely made some numbers such as "We Both Reached For The Gun" and "Razzle Dazzle".