| Movie Review: Chicago | |
The pulse races, you feel a little bead
of sweat forming on your brow, the heart races a little faster, and you find
yourself smiling ridiculously in a way that could only mean intense pleasure. In
less then 10 minutes of film, the new movie "Chicago" riles you up, teases you,
and just when you are on the brink of naughtiness the first number "All that
Jazz" ends, making you wonder what is going to happen next, and more
importantly, how. "Chicago" seems to have been the most highly anticipated of
all the winter time movies amongst the gay community. Anyone who was fortunate
enough to see Bebe Neuwirth make an indelible mark on the show back in 1996 may
approach the new movie with a touch of trepidation. How could something so
perfect on the stage be brought to the screen without its secret weapon, Ms.
Neuwirth? So many of us asked. The good news is, as many of us were willing to
switch sides to be with Ms. Neuwirth, the same can be said for Catherine
Zeta-Jones. She brings sexuality, fierceness, wit, and edge to a role that seems
somewhat shrunken down from the stage version. She sells every song with
the "look out world" bravado of a nuanced Broadway baby. But more on the cast in
a bit.
"Chicago" the musical has always been a cynics delight. It is the story of two
women who are in jail for killing lovers who did them wrong. But rather then
worry about their lives being taken, their concerns lie mainly with their place
in the spotlight. A spotlight the public has shone on them. Their lawyer Billy
Flynn (Richard Gere) is sleazy and makes no bones about it. The prison matron
Mama (Queen Latifah) helps you with the spotlight depending on how "good" you
are to her. And in the end, she who kicks highest wins, no matter if your face
was in the way. Like I said, a cynics delight.
What is brilliant about the
casting is not necessarily the perfect Ms. Zeta-Jones (It is not hard to picture
such a beautifully sexual woman as being manipulative), but the casting of Renee Zellweger as the protagonist Roxie
Hart. Ms. Zellweger starts off the film fooling around with the man she ends up
killing, and walks away from the film a full fledged diva, white tommy gun in
hand. Her transformation happens before our eyes. She is a dreamer who gets to
realize her dream, and it doesn't much matter who pays the price for it.
Speaking of dreams, the director Rob Marshall figured out a way to make the
musical accessible to those who are not used to people bursting out into
song. Every number, with the exception of "All the Jazz" and the ending, are
figments of Roxie's imagination, the way she pictures things as a wanna-be performer. The director has made two very different, yet
completely
married pictures. One is straight drama, with a throughline that leads to
Roxie's trial, and another is musical fantasy, where the level of fantasy varies
from sad to the erotic. Speaking of which, without giving too much away, the
"Cell Block Tango" scene may very well be one of the hottest things I have ever
seen on a screen.
"Chicago" is intoxicating as it is intelligent. It has a very clear message
about how we exploit the infamous, and how we as a public get off on the drama of
other people's lives. This is clearly demonstrated in an exchange between Ms. Zellweger and Mr. Gere where she tells him, "They love me" and he responds with
"They'd love you more if you hanged, because it would sell more papers." For all
the reasons we love "Chicago" we should be ashamed to love
it. But after 2 hours of razzle-dazzle, and all the jazz, we are
giddy to know that we had it comin'.
