Reviewed by: Joe

Directed by: Rob Marshall

Produced by: Marty Richards & Harvey Weinstein

Cast: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Christine Baranski, & Queen Latifah

Released: December 27th, 2002

Crime/Gangster, Musical/Performing Arts, Drama and Comedy 1 hr. 40 min. It's the long-awaited film version of the Broadway hit. Set in the roaring 20's, this is the story of Chicago chorus girl Roxie Hart (Zellweger), who shoots her unfaithful lover (West). Landing in jail, she meets Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones), another chorus girl and murderess, currently enjoying media attention and legal manipulation, care of her attorney, Billy Flynn (Gere), king of the old "Razzle Dazzle." Soon enough, however, Flynn takes Roxie's case as well, and Velma finds herself old news as Roxie is now the most famous murderess in town, on her way to getting out of jail and becoming a star. The two go through a series of attempts at getting what they both want (often conflicting): freedom and fame.

The film adaptation of Chicago was as good or better then all the buzz suggested the film would be. The songs are amazingly well done with best being Razzle Dazzle, Mister Cellophane, and the Cell Block Tango. The numbers were quite surprising and didn’t come off tacky as originally thought. Most of the cast seems to work well except for two. And was said before, Renee Zellweger is good but not great as the central character, Roxie Hart. There certainly could have been a better to take the role but Zellweger works fine, just not outstanding. The other member who didn’t work well was Lucy Liu. It wasn’t her but her character that was the problem. Her slight appearance in the film seemed kind of pointless though she does help play out the rest of the story just a bit. They could have done a lot more with her character but it is no real loss. The comeback of the movie musical may have been started by Moulin Rouge but Chicago continues the surge with full force. Chicago is one of the best movie musicals in recent memories and one the best films this year. Make it your priority to see this wonderfully delightful film.