KDL Recommends

Chicago

ISBN: 786936219197

Title: Chicago

Author: Best Picture (2002)

KDL Description:

At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart both find themselves on Chicago’s famed Murderess Row. They also share Billy Flynn, the town’s slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends.

Amazon Description:

Bob Fosse’s sexy cynicism still shines in Chicago, a faithful movie adaptation of the choreographer-director’s 1975 Broadway musical. Of course the story, all about merry murderesses and tabloid fame, is set in the Roaring ‘20s, but Chicago reeks of ‘70s disenchantment—this isn’t just Fosse’s material, it’s his attitude, too. That’s probably why the movie’s breathless observations on fleeting fame and fickle public taste already seem dated. However, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones are beautifully matched as Jazz Age vixens, and Richard Gere gleefully sheds his customary cool to belt out a showstopper. (Yes, they all do their own singing and dancing.) Whatever qualms musical purists may have about director Rob Marshall’s cut-cut-cut style, the film’s sheer exuberance is intoxicating. Given the scarcity of big-screen musicals in the last 25 years, that’s a cause for singing, dancing, cheering. And all that jazz. —Robert Horton