Chicago

Director: Rob Marshall Rob Marshall

Overview

A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named Amos (John C. Reilly). Roxie is having an affair on the side with Fred Casley (Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However, Fred strings Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders Fred in cold blood. Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband. Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron "Mama" Morton hooks Velma up with hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets. Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces Amos to also hire Flynn. Soon Flynn is splashing Roxie's story -- or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of Roxie's story -- all over the gutter press, and Roxy and Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines. A project that had been moving from studio to studio since the musical opened on Broadway in 1973, Chicago also features guest appearances by Lucy Liu and Christine Baranski.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/07/2023
UPC:	0191329234068
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Miramax

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Catherine Zeta-Jones	Velma Kelly
Renée Zellweger	Roxie Hart
Richard Gere	Billy Flynn
Queen Latifah	Matron Mama Morton
John C. Reilly	Amos Hart
Christine Baranski	Mary Sunshine
Lucy Liu	Go-to-Hell-Kitty
Taye Diggs	Bandleader
Colm Feore	Assistant District Attorney Martin Harrison
Dominic West	Fred Casely
Roman Podhora	Sergeant Fogarty
Rob Smith	Newspaper photographer
Scott Wise	Ezekial Young
Cliff Saunders	Stage manager
Robbie Rox	Prison guard
Ken Ard	Wilbur
Marc Calamia	Hunyak's husband
Ekaterina Chtchelkanova	Katalin Hunyak
Sean Wayne Doyle	Reporter
Steve Behal	Prison Clerk
Bruce Beaton	Police photographer
Joey Pizzi	Bernie
Mya Harrison	Mona
Susan Misner	Liz
Jayne Eastwood	Mrs. Borusewicz
Deidre Goodwin	June
Denise Faye	Annie
Paul Bogaev	Conductor

Technical Credits

Bill Condon

Rob Marshall	Director,Choreography
Colleen Atwood	Costumes/Costume Designer
Dion Beebe	Cinematographer
Jennifer Berman	Executive Producer
Paul Bogaev	Musical Direction/Supervision
Don Carmody	Co-producer
Bill Condon	Screenwriter
James Cresson	Producer
Sam Crothers	Executive Producer
Maureen Crowe	Musical Direction/Supervision
David Lee	Sound/Sound Designer
Danny Elfman	Score Composer
Ali Farrell	Casting
Robert Fryer	Producer
Julie Goldstein	Executive Producer
Myron Hoffert	Asst. Director
John Kander	Score Composer
Neil Meron	Executive Producer
Michael Minkler	Sound/Sound Designer
John Myhre	Production Designer
Meryl Poster	Executive Producer
Martin Richards	Producer
Laura Rosenthal	Casting
Jordan Samuel	Makeup
Gordon Sim	Set Decoration/Design
Andrew M. Stearn	Art Director
Dominick Tavella	Sound/Sound Designer
Martin Walsh	Editor
Bob Weinstein	Executive Producer
Harvey Weinstein	Executive Producer
Craig Zadan	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

The once-moribund movie musical has been rather spectacularly revived in recent years, but nothing has matched the success of Chicago, Rob Marshall’s eye-popping (and Best Picture-winning) adaptation of the classic Broadway musical originally brought to the stage by Bob Fosse. Adapted by Fosse, Fred Ebb, and John Kander from an earlier play (previously filmed twice, once starring Ginger Rogers), Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), a marginally talented Jazz Era wannabe who becomes a Windy City sensation by murdering the duplicitous lover with whom she’d been maintaining an adulterous relationship. While in the Cook County Jail, Roxie grabs more publicity by hiring flamboyant defense lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), who’s also representing Roxie’s rival, stage star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Both women expect to be acquitted in their respective murder trials, thereby gleaning enough publicity to further their show-business careers. Director Marshall, a screen newcomer, pulls off the not-inconsiderable feat of making the Fosse stage play cinematic without sacrificing the stylized artificiality of a theatrical presentation. He does this by juxtaposing narrative material -- shot with all due attention paid to accurately replicating period costuming, hairstyles, and settings -- with expressionistic musical numbers performed on smoky, shadowy, sparsely furnished sets. The legendary Kander-Ebb score receives spirited interpretation by the principal players, all of whom do their own singing and dancing. Virtually every number is a delight, beginning with Velma’s signature tune, "All That Jazz," and including the rollicking "When You’re Good to Mama" (sung lustily by Queen Latifah, who’s brilliant as a cheerfully corrupt prison matron), the poignant "Mister Cellophane" (done to a turn by John C. Reilly, playing Roxie’s dimwitted, cuckolded husband), and the showstopping "Cell Block Tango," "We Both Reached for the Gun," and "Razzle Dazzle." Zeta-Jones, known primarily for her dramatic work, sparkles as Velma; her athletic dancing is a joy to behold. Zellweger is appropriately pert and sassy as the amoral Roxie, and she, too, exhibits a hitherto unsuspected flair for Terpsichore. Chicago is a delight from first frame to last. It’s just like the Roaring '20s during which it is set -- loud, flashy, occasionally vulgar, but joyously uninhibited. We guarantee that one viewing won’t be enough; you’ll want to revisit this movie again and again.

Barnes & Noble

If Moulin Rouge heralded the triumphant return of the movie musical, Rob Marshall's rhapsodic rendition of Chicago takes that tendency a welcome two-step further. Using the best capabilities of both stage and screen, Marshall mounts a rousing cinematic achievement that may trump Baz Luhrmann's -- he's filmed a conventionally structured musical that needs no tricks, only its own tight mechanics, to reach across generations of moviegoers. A Broadway chestnut written in the 1970s about the 1920s may not seem ripe with 21st century relevance, but an astonishing cast of performers breathes new excitement into the lyrics and music of John Kander and Fred Ebb and the swagger of playwright/choreographer Bob Fosse. And in Chicago, "performer" is no term of backhanded praise. Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere sing every impressive note and cut every impressive groove across each dance floor, their heretofore unknown talents prompting bouts of surprised applause throughout the audience. That they deliver award-worthy acting on top of it is a bonus. But Chicago is as much a triumph of editing as any other attribute. The production numbers run steadily throughout, so Marshall deftly weaves expository passages into the score's quieter moments, the lyrics and images offering a perfect symbiosis of storytelling methods. Martin Walsh's editing also gets its own chance at center stage, notably during the thrilling sequence in which Gere's climactic courtroom speech alternates with footage of the actor engaged in a rapid-fire tap dance. That Chicago also functions as a familiar but juicy indictment of the bloodthirsty media and its fickle readership...well, it leaves a reviewer about as breathless as Zeta-Jones after a spirited romp across the set.

All Movie Guide

Leggy Zeta-Jones is so hot in the 'All That Jazz' number, she's flammable. And Zellweger defines delicious.

Rolling Stone - Peter Travers

1/2
The real star of this movie is the score, as in the songs translate well to film, and it's really well directed.

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

Delivers the sexy razzle-dazzle that everyone, especially movie musical fans, has been hoping for.

Hollywood Reporter