Chicago

 

Chicago 2002

• Director: Rob Marshall
• Seen by this director: Into the Woods, Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides, Nine
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Geer, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, John C Reilly, Queen Latifah
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Renée Zellweger – Judy, Cold Mountain, White Oleander, Nurse Betty, Reality Bites
• Catherine Zeta-Jones – Intolerable Cruelty, Traffic, High Fidelity
• Richard Gere – Hotel Marigold 2, Runaway Bride, Sommersby, Pretty Woman
• Taye Diggs – Rent
• Dominic West – Tomb Raider, Genius, Testament of Proof, Pride, The Awakening, Jonny English Reborn, From Time to Time, The Wire, Mona Lisa’s Smile, 28 Days, Star Wars I, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Surviving Picasso, Richard III
• John C Riley - Kong Skull Island, Walk Hard the Dewey Cox Story,A Prairie Home Companion, The Aviator, The Hours, The Good Girl, Gangs of New York, The Perfect Storm, Tenacious D, Georgia, Dolores Claiborne, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
• Queen Latifah – The Secret Life of Bees, Stranger than Fiction, Sphere, Jungle Fever
• Why? It’s a musical
• Seen:  Once before. Now 16 October 2022      

       The hottest jazz club in the 20’s in Chicago. The hottest acts. Betrayal, murder, dreams of stardom, true love, adultery, prison, death row. Songs like ‘All That Jazz’ and ‘Razzle Dazzle.’

       Zellweger is stellar as Josie who kills her lover Fred (West) for killing her dreams. She ends up in Cook County jail and sees life through a series of song and dance numbers. Queen Latifah is fun as the tough-talking Mama, prison guard who will do anything for her ladies, for a price. Riley is wonderfully pathetic as the wronged husband, and what a voice! Even Richard Gere as the singing and dancing sleazy lawyer is cool.

       No wonder it got an Oscar for Best Film but why didn’t Zellweger get one for Best Actress? Oh, Kidman for The Hours. Zeta-Jones got it for Best Supporting Actress, but I would have voted for Latifah, who was also nominated. 

5* of 5