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All That Jazz
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Follies
Chicago
Rated PG-13
2002, Miramax
All That Jazz
Rated R
1979, Fox
Thirty years ago veteran dancer and choreographer Bob Fosse was considered one of the most important and talented of the New Hollywood directors, along with Mike Nichols and Robert Altman.
Fosse's films are standouts:Star 80, a 1983 drama about slain Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten, and the 1972 movie musical, Cabaret, about club performers in 1930s Berlin. All That Jazz, Fosse's dazzling 1979 musical recently released on DVD, proves that the subject that most fascinated Bob Fosse was Bob Fosse himself.
In All That Jazz, Roy Scheider plays Joe Gideon, a workaholic, chain-smoking director/choreographer who dies of a heart attack. Gideon is based on Fosse, a chain-smoking workaholic director/choreographer who would later die in 1987.
Cabaret remains Fosse's best known film, but All That Jazz packs a more dramatic punch, thanks to its blurred lines between Fosse's own life and scenes of song-and-dance make-believe.
Scheider keeps the self-obsessed Gideon engaging with a grounded, credible performance, the best of his career. Jessica Lange makes good use of her perfect beauty as an otherworldly spirit who visits Gideon. Stage star Ben Vereen boosts the film with a climactic musical number that springs from Gideon's hallucinations.
All That Jazz is as extravagant as current-day movie musicals Chicago and Moulin Rouge. What sets it apart is the credible sense of tragedy Fosse brings to Gideon's, well, his own story. All That Jazz is seriously emotional, which is not true for many movie musicals.
Like Fosse, Chicago director Rob Marshall is a veteran choreographer and now a top filmmaker thanks to the success of his acclaimed musical based on Fosse's 1975 Broadway show.
Its awards are collecting dust, and the box-office receipts have been tabulated. Chicago remains a true phenomenon. Out on DVD, the film loses some luster since its Oscar victories. Strip away Chicago's glittery facade and Marshall offers nothing that we haven't seen before.
Catherine Zeta-Jones shows plenty of polish, but less pizzazz, as the seasoned showgirl, Velma Kelly. Renée Zellweger is more interesting performance as a wannabe starlet, Roxie Hart. Zellweger is green and clumsy and her lack of singing and dancing experience matches well with her character.
Chicago is being hailed as the reason for the renaissance of the movie musical, and for good reason. However, All That Jazz is the benchmark for how intelligent and original a movie musical can be.
All That Jazz grade: A
Chicago grade: C
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