Opinons about "Chicago" the movie

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 3:51pm

For those of you who have seen the B'Way show & Movie, what did you guys think of the movie? Did you think they casted the right people? I haven't seen the B'way show yet so I don't know who would fit into the roles of Velma, Roxie & Billy in the movie.

This maybe have been posted already but I probably missed it!!! =-/

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 3:54pm

Well, I've said before that I didn't like Ann Reinking as Roxie. So I think that Renee Zellweger was the perfect choice. And Catherine was also wonderful. They show a little clip of her rehearsing "I Can't Do It Alone" in the Making of Chicago documentary on the DVD and she definately could do Broadway.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 3:59pm

I think with the sobering reality that comes with the passage of time we will see people backing away from the over-the-top praise they heaped on the movie from the minute the first coming attraction was unveiled. I believe that in time there will always be praise for Queen Latifah and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

I believe that you can never underestimate the thrill you feel when you see entire bodies -- arms, legs, hands, faces, torsos -- dancing on a stage as opposed to disembodied parts flashing on a screen. To bastardize the theory of Marshall McLuhan, in this instance, the movie is in a cool medium and the stage show is in a hot medium and there really is no comparison. The stage show is where it's at, daddy-o.

Also, Zellwiger and Gere appeared to benefit very well from the quick cut editing techniques and computer altered pitch controls used in the movie. The only one we know for sure could actually play her part on stage is Latifah. Possibly Jones. The others are just movie stars, no actual proof that they are actors able to sustain a character live before our very eyes.

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 4:00pm

yeah I agree, I've seen the behind the scenes. I think they all did a great job in that movie but I can't compare it to the show

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 4:09pm

I liked the movie. I'm not an avid lover of the show but I enjoy it so I didn't think the material was sacred. In fact, I've always thought the show needs trimmed. I loved Zellweger (but I tend to love Renee in movies) and John C. Reilly (who's probably one of the best actors alive) but wasn't necessarily blown away by anyone else. They were fine but didn't really astound me.

I also think the movie 'got' the style of the show by using the 'songs in Roxie's head' conceit. I much prefer the original, wildyly comic vaudeville stylings of 'Chicago' to the more stiff revival stylings that seem to have left everyone's tongues hanging out, instead of putting them in their cheeks where they belong.

I don't think the movie's the be-all-end-all of anything but it's certainly a good movie and an interesting adaptation of the piece.

[sondheimfreak]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 4:10pm

I also think that Latifah would be awesome on Broadway.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 4:11pm

Zeta Jones was the lead in "My One & Only" in the West End. There is no doubt in my mind she could do her role onstage but 8 shows a week? Not so sure. After all she left dance for a LONG period & sure she got it back quick enough ( once a dancer...) but its a lifestyle & being a movie star is definately an easier choice in SOOOO many ways.

Posted: 8/26/03 at 4:20pm

i think she was also in 42 street, and another musical i can't think of off the top of my head, but every time i pass this cast recording in tower records i always see her name in the cast list... so catherine would make an awesome velma on broadway. i mean, hello they cast mealanie griffith and we're here arguing if catherine, a veteran, can handle it?? lol

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:02pm

I will never forget seeing it for the second time at the Ziegfeld…after the movie was over, I was in the men’s room and there were two very queeny “theatre” queens (lets pause for a moment..I say no more) at the urinals and saying essentially this:

“Well it was alright but what I don’t understand is why they just didn’t put a stationary camera in the theatre and just film Bebe and Ann….now THAT would be a film!!”…

A Stationary camera

Bebe and Ann…in close-up!

As a major MOTION PICTURE!

I laughed out loud.....so loud the whole mens room turned around..

What I did notice was as soon as the film looked set to hit $75 million and won everything at the Golden Globes…all the nay-sayers got very quiet…

$180 million and a Best Picture Oscar later, well, all’s pretty quiet on the western front…

Funny that?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:13pm

So, there were at least three very queeny "theater" queens in the room, is that your point?

I'm just saying, the well-paid for success will fade and what will be left is the movie. In my opinion a good adaptation of a great revival of a very good show. Not the
"Ohmygawdit'sthegreatestmovieI'veeverseengetthosethreeonB'wayPRONTO" masterpiece that some overly excited types seemed to suggest.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:15pm

the film's merits are totally debatable because it is a matter of taste and opinion. Some hated the film.. others liked it... others loved and believed it deserved everything it recieved

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:17pm

So is your point that the debate is fruitless so we shouldn't have it? OF COURSE IT IS A MATTER OF TASTE AND OPINION.

Updated On: 8/26/03 at 05:17 PM

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:19pm

I don't know, I though the movie was great. As I said in a previous post I bought the DVD and I can't stop watching it!!!
I want to see Chicago on Broadway so bad! I guess I should wait till Melanie Griffith leaves though?

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:29pm

I absolutely LOVE the movie. I saw the show, which was a lot darker and more intimate, and I prefer the film version. Zeta Jones blew me away- and yes, she played Peggy in the original production of 42nd Street in London. If she could handle THAT role professionally, we all know that with some dance training to prepare her for Broadway- she could do it; and WELL. Zellwegger was pretty good, although I don't think she could make it on Broadway, and Gere was good as well. I was impressed with him, because although he's not an actor in the theater, he danced and sung his way through it, and he did a decent job. But as much as I admire him for getting through it the way he did, I wouldn't want to see him on Broadway in the role; especially since there are men like Brent Barrett to costar as Billy. Latifah would be great as well. John C. Reilly was fine- but nothing better than average. All together, it was a really phenomenal movie.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:33pm

I like everyone overall in the movie, but I really wasn't fond of Zellweger. I think she made good acting choices, but overall she didn't appear to be very comfortable during most of her song/dance numbers. I dunno, she's just the last person I would have thought of for the role.
I think what I like best about the movie is the staging...it's kind of nice to see where all the action is taking place. I also like the little touches, like the audience reactions to Hunyak and Amos as Mr Cellophane. I think it's great how Mama's portrayed as a burlesque act...I always found it rather odd how the Mama's don't move a whole lot to such a bawdy song. I like how all the songs are done "realistically." Sometimes it's nice to see a musical out of it's heightened state.
It's very glitzy and filled with my favorite kind of red and blue lighting, but I do prefer the stage version. It's so simple and stripped down to the bare essentials. I'd never seen anything quite like it and was smitten.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 5:59pm

Actually Billy _____, Richard Gere did star opposite David Dukes and David Marshall Grant on in the original cast of Bent, on Broadway. That was about gay men in a concentration camp. He was also a replacement performer in Grease, the original version not the revival.

[CJR]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 6:03pm

While the movie was very good, clearly there are some things I would have liked to have seen done differently. And having seen the stage show as many times as I have... well there are many things I like about the stage version more than the movie version. Renee was very good, but I don't think I'd call her "perfect for Roxie."

I'd have to say I much prefer the stage version over the movie version. It's sleek and sexy, seductive, and lack of costumes and scenery allows you to focus on the raw talent of each of the performers. La Train Wreck excluded, it's easy to be completely enthralled in the show just by their talent and movements alone.

Also, just a small nitpick... it's cast, not casted.

Updated On: 8/26/03 at 06:03 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 6:06pm

Is it correct to say that a certain pair of groupies "casted" many famous rock stars, including Jimi Hendrix, and that he was a very big star?

[Oscar Jaffee]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 6:59pm

I thought the movie was good, but I feel it was rather clumsily directed. Rob Marshall tried to pay tribute to Bob Fosse, but his camera work was rather shaky and not very well staged.

Posted: 8/26/03 at 7:05pm

really oscar???

wow, i thought the complete opposite. i thought the direction was unmatched. and the actor's kept boasting on the talents and the skills of marshall, how he's the best they've ever worked with... i have to say i was personally impressed with the direction. but that's cool, you can have your opinion.

Posted: 8/26/03 at 7:09pm

I thought the movie was good, but I feel it was rather clumsily directed. Rob Marshall tried to pay tribute to Bob Fosse, but his camera work was rather shaky and not very well staged.

Rob Marshall won the Director's Guild of America award for Chicago...and was nominated at every pre-Oscar awards including the BAFTA..

You might be in the minority on this one..the final 1:30 seconds of "Cell Block Tango" alone are stunning... and no, not even Fosse could have done it better....

[cabarethed]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 7:13pm

The final minute of Cell Block Tango is indeed stunning, but I was more entranced with the segue from typical night sounds to the unforgettable beat of the song.

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 7:21pm

Having never seen the stage version, I can't choose one or the other. I really did enjoy the movie though. I was getting chills when Catharine rose up on the elevator in "All That Jazz".

[Oscar Jaffee]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 7:22pm

I am a big Fosse fan, so, voiceanth, I have to respectfully disagree. Fosse WOULD HAVE done it better.

[PJ]

Posted: 8/26/03 at 8:44pm

I saw the movie 4 times in theaters. And once on DVD. I truly do love this movie. I've never seen the stage version, although I'd love to at some point. I think Renee is a great actress and she acted her role very well. I'm still sold on the idea that she was robbed of the Best Actress Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. Sure, Nicole was good in "The Hours." But I can honestly say she's done a lot better in the past. I also am not a big fan of that movie. Nicole Kidman should have won for "Moulin Rouge" rather than "The Hours." I thought the role of Roxie was the role of a lifetime for Renee and if she was ever going to get a Best Actress statuette, it would be for "Chicago." Hopefully she will win an Oscar in the future.