Chicago (DVD)

Chicago is a glossy, slick musical written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The show was originally only semi successful and has been revived several times. Perhaps one of the most interesting things is that no matter when you see it or saw it, the subject always remains topical. As a fan of musical theatre, I was very very keen to see this film, and to see how well the show translated to the medium. Having now seen it, I think I can say that the answer ...
...film outshines the musical - particularly in the way it clarifies the opening of the show. For those who are not familiar, the show is about murderesses and the story of Roxie Hart, an aspiring show girl who shoots her lover in a jealous rage. It concerns her imprisonment and the way that she and her lawyer use the legal system and the gullability of the general public to get her off scot free. On a deeper level the show is about America and the ...

iainc 26.02.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...an awful picture of what Chicago was like in the 20’s, which is one full of dead bodies. All in all, around eight people are murdered in the film, and in the most evil ways. Within days Roxie realises that Velma is bribing Big Momma - Queen Latifah - the friendly warden in the prison, and Roxie’s idolism goes down from there. The high publicity trial if Velma Kelly is then put down to the bottom, and there’s a new murderer in town ...
...that are a comedy/drama. Well, Chicago breaks ALL the rules as in all it’s a Musical, Drama, Black Comedy and a thriller all rapped up in one. And it is so well. I think the writers wanted us to watch and laugh. I haven’t seen it in the West End or Broadway, but I think they were aiming for a bit of a mockery of it, making it a black comedy, and making some scenes over-acted. I did laugh as well, as I could just imagine Claire Sweeney ...

Mattroberts 05.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

PLOT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago tells the story of Roxy Hart a young pretty houswife who murders her lover when he tries to leave her. She finds herself on "Murderess Row" a special wing in the prison for female killers. The prison is run by Matron 'mama' Morton a lady out for all she can get. Also on "Murderess Row" is Velma Kelley, accused of murdering her husband and sister. ...
...this. To Sum up Chicago is a good movie that i would Reccomend to my friends, although the men may not like it, it is a good film for all the ladies to get together and have a good sing and dance watching. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL FEATURES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For an Oscar Winning film the extras on this DVD ...

Faithless2002 23.02.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...at the cinema! Enter Chicago stage left. To borrow a phrase from one of its musical cousins this film is "Spectacular, Spectacular"! It's colourful, it's bombastic, it's a dance a minute, it's a song for every sentence, it's.....boring. To summarise the plot - a bored little budding stage-starlet Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is cheating on her husband with a man who has promised to get her into her own show. Once she finds out she has been ...
...and cinema to perfection - Chicago is song after song after song after song with very minimal dialogue in between - I think it was all a bit too much for me! I go to the cinema to see cinema...I felt like I was in a theatre without the atmosphere of seeing the life show. I would recommend this movie as most people seem to love it, but I'll be hoping on Oscar night that it doesn't sweep the boards. ...

free4susan 20.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

Chicago is an adaptation of the hit stage play of the same name. A stage play that I've seen and enjoyed (I think I did an op on it) despite having reservations as I'd never seeing a musical on stage before. I had reservations about the film version for different reasons - a) I'd seen the stage play so what was the point in watching the film version and b) I'm not a big fan of Catherine Zeta Jones and I'm not a fan at all of Richard Gere. However, ...
...on stage at a seedy Chicago night-club. She's late and has to wash blood off her hands before going on stage, alone. She's watched in awe by Roxy Hart (Renee Z), wannabe singer who is about to go back to her apartment with her sleazy boyfriend behind her husband's back. By the end of the scene, Velma has belted out "All that jazz" and been arrested and Roxy has been promised the earth (and a singing career) from her boyfriend. A few weeks later ...

Ork1927 03.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...In The rain, Carousel etc. Chicago does achieve this though, in a way not experienced in the last twenty years at least. The dance routines are spectacular and the performances strong, although I felt that the camera work lessened the impact of the choreography, especially in the Cell Block Tango. Every song is seen as a performanceon stage, through the eyes of Roxie Hart the central character. This works well, as opposed to the risky business ...
...of a scene, say in a prison or courtroom. The director has cunningly used this concept of Roxie's fantasies to avoid this, a point which some of the films critics seem to have missed. For me the star of the show is Catherine Zeta Jones, although it pains me to say so. Her background in musical theatre (42nd Street at Drury Lane; Italia Conti Stage School) is clear, as she is strong in all three disaplines- singing, dancing and acting. She is close ...

mattC 06.10.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

I first saw Chicago way back in 2003 when I was twelve years old. My mum and dad took me , my sister and my friend to see this film at the cinema. At the time ,we all admitted that we thought that this film was terrible. However a week or so ago I decided to watch this film as I had forgotten what the film was about and wondered whether my tastes have changed over the last six years. Chicago is an American film which comes under the musical , crime ...
...and stars Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zelweger. Running time of the movie is one hundred and thirteen minutes (Seven minutes under two hours). The movie is a certificated 12 which means no persons under the age of twelve should watch this as it does contain some sexual contact and violence. Velma and Roxie are both murderers in jail. Velma killed her husband when she caught him in bed with her sister and Roxie killed her boyfriend when he didn't ...

xdonzx 24.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...During the Thirties, in Chicago , two women charged with murder intersect on bottom of jazz and music hall. HISTORY: In a cabaret as she is on scene, Velma Kelly is arrested by the police force for the cold murder of her husband and her sister. Velma indeed found them as they were having an affair . Roxanne Hart accompanied by her lover attends the arrest of one of its idols. Roxanne Hart is a young housewife, which is bored. To mislead its routine, ...
...driving of review. Her lover suddenly decides to break up with Roxi after having promised her to make her a big Star. Out of rage she kills him. The two women then will find themselves in the corridor of female murderer under the guard of the janitor: Mama. The two women oppose themselves and end up hating themselves cordially. Thanks to their lawyer Billy Flein, each one prepares her lawsuit. Each one try obtain the most publicity on her case and ...

Sigisbert 30.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...a big lover of musicals, Chicago more or less appealed to me straight away. The only one thing that put me off was Catherine Zeta Jones, because I have never been a big fan of her to say the least. Chicago takes us back to the days when jazz was all the rage, and not being a huge fan of jazz myself I did find the film, both the story and the music quite entertaining, and would rate it a lot higher than what I originally anticipated. When Roxy Hart ...
...promised her he would make her a star, and was using her purely for what a man likes best, in pure anger and cold blood she shot him dead. Being present at the scene and trying to get her husband to cover for her, she couldn't pull the wool over there eyes and she was sent to prison, Chicago's Murderess Row. At her time in prison, she find herself locked up with a fellow entertainer who has made it big time, however caught her husband having sex ...

blondgem 25.06.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

...of the actual stage musical Chicago and I have to admit that the film soundtrack beats it by far…………. Ok, best bit of the film, the first five minutes and the last five minutes. Catherine Zetas entrance into the film with that belter of a song “All that Jazz” had me singing in the bath for weeks and just thinking of Catherine had me hot for even more weeks, stunning she was…The last five minutes was a duet ...
...damn I just spoiled the ending of the film for you. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeez I always do that !! Some peeps in my work have gone to see the film mainly due to my rantings but they have hated it whereas others have loved it. So I have come to the conclusion that you will either love the film or hate it, proper little Sherlock Holmes aint I!! Anyway, get up of yer bum and go see it, now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I gotta go, My boss is snooping about, you don’t ...

artthefart 28.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

Musicals. Usually when I mention this film genre to my husband, I get the same look, screwed up face and over my dead body expression. However on Wednesday night there was not an awful lot on the television that we had not seen so with a bit of gentle persuasion I managed to get him to agree to watching the film on Sky. However after sitting through this delight of a musical even he had to admit that he was gripped. The musicals of today have certainly ...
...of them can dance too. Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart, Catherine Zeta Jones as Velma Kelly and the gorgeous Richard Gere as their lawyer Billy Flynn bring this sexy, seductive show to the big screen. I have yet to see the stage show, but will definitly put it at the top of my list of to Santa this Christmas, failing that I would be happy with the DvD so I can watch the film over and over again. What was it about the film that had me gripped? Set in ...

rachelkanga 24.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

Having seen the stage production in New York and Edinburgh, I was itching to see the film version starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere. I have to say it was worth the wait. The film is gloriously colourful, humerous, sexy, and hugely entertaining - the time flew by and all I could think of is "I WANT MORE"! There is a similar effect as in Moulin Rouge, in that each "number" is a professional, stand-alone production, which ...
...- it almost seems churlish to remain sitting quietly while the story continues on screen. In the stage versions, the performers can delay a few moments to acknowledge the audience response. However, this is rather a trivial complaint overall. My favourite scene is when the prison inmates on death row perform the Cell Block Tango - their excuses or "grounds" for committing murder provide some light-hearted moments, such as suggesting that one victim ...

chic 12.02.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

Having been a long time fan of the stage show I could not imagine a film being able to do it justice. The simplicity of the stage show, with minimal props and use of a full jazz band to create the atmosphere must have been corrupted and translated badly to the big screen in the need to make a quick buck surely? Thankfully no! I was surprised and delighted by the final result. Both Jones and Zellweger stay true to the idea of their original characters. ...
...was born to sing, Never the less they carry off the songs with aplomb. Get to ware some downright stunning costumes and generally seem to be having a ball. The supporting actors are also used extremely well. “Mr Cellophane” being one of the songs I was sure would be left on the cutting room floor as it is not integral to the plot. Here it is still, used to show the feelings of the poor maligned husband in the guise of a stage tramp. I would recommend ...

schrodingerspussy 05.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

'The best thing since Moulin Rouge' was one reviewer's opinion of the eagerly awaited big-screen version of the hit play Chicago. Since I had not enjoyed any part of Moulin Rouge, and the film's costar was my personal nemesis Catherine Zeta-Jones, this pretty much failed to inspire me. However, after watching the trailer for Chicago, my mind was almost changed. A bevvy of Oscar and Bafta nominations and a self-confessed soft-spot for Renee Zellwegger ...
...ended up squashed in between a bunch of friends, with only my trusty coke as protection. I went in expecting nothing more than good entertainment, nice songs and pretty outfits, and that is exactly what I got. I had no expectations of highbrow cinema, despite the best picture nominations, and so therefore wasn't disappointed by the showy array of music and dancing, and 'razzle-dazzle'. The songs were good (my particular favourite being the slinky, ...

franproc 17.06.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)

Chicago is a film version of the 1920s stage musical that for me doesn't quite deliver. Part of the problem is that two of the main stars, Renee Zellweger as Roxie and Richard Gere as Billy Flyn just aren't up the singing and dancing. They just can't match the jazz. Catherine Zeta Jones, Velma, is a notch above them but gets less of the movie and is very much the third star. Fans of Richard Gere will be dissapointed to see him getting down to his ...
...made me laugh out loud but I don't think it was meant to. Renee Zellweger, had some dance scenes on her own and despite editing and I guess dozens of retakes still looked clumsy. There's a need for a live audience to build the music and dance scenes and this is often dubbed on or the scene presented as a stage show to compensate. They just can't quite carry it off themselves. The plot revolves around the easy mainipulation of naked ambition. In ...

ChazMan 22.01.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Chicago (DVD)