Redeeming qualities in ACL film?

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 7:06pm

Forced myself to watch it again today. Haven't seen it since I was a kid. Just wondering if anyone found anything about the film they liked.

Well?

[dramadame21]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 7:14pm

My GOD!!! There are so many qualities in the film version that I honestly really love (huge acl fan..including the film:))
Let's see..
1 the fact that "Gimmie the Ball" is gone!
2 the Val is actually believable in her acting and appearance
3 "Hello Twelve.." fantastic.
4 Michael Douglas
5 Cassie "Mirror" dance break is fantastic, even though her fall is awful

so many to choose from! Oh I love it all!

Updated On: 11/9/06 at 07:14 PM

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 7:17pm

One thing is for sure. After watching this film is solidified for me the fact that the 80's were so effin cheezy!!!

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 7:55pm

The onyl redeeming quality in the film to me is Vicki Frederick's Sheila. Apart from that, I do not care for any of the characters (or actors); actually, in the film, I dislike just about every character, every number (they even cut portions of "At The Ballet"), and particularly Alyson Reed's Cassie.

[mominator]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 8:09pm

It is the oNLY chane to see Barrymore's.
I hate how they cut to Cassie and Zach during "I Can Do That"

[allofmylife]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 9:00pm

The only redeeming value for me was the fact that the guitar picks the original prints of the film were turned into have been used by musicians the world over.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 9:22pm

"2 the Val is actually believable in her acting and appearance"

Too bad it's a dance movie and you never see her dancing.

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 10:08pm

The onyl redeeming quality in the film to me is Vicki Frederick's Sheila

Agreed. I like her very much. Did she ever do anything else?

Too bad it's a dance movie and you never see her dancing.

Well that's because the actress playing her did not know how to dance to those standards.
Updated On: 11/10/06 at 10:08 PM

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 11/9/06 at 10:26pm

I love the movie. I find it very entertaining, and although it's not the best verison of the story of A Chorus Line, it does justice to the musical. I think Michael Douglas' performance was amazing, and I was dissapointed by Michael Berresse's performance because I liked Michael Douglas so much.

What is it that people don't like about the movie?

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 2:49am

I'll be damned but Audrey Landers T&A quotient was perfect for Val and she sang the best rendition of "Dance 10; Looks 3" I've ever heard...Pam Blair included. :-P

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 9:28am

What is it that people don't like about the movie?

That the score was shred to bits; that the dance scenes are clunky and shot with ineptitude (let's show a tap dance from the waist up); the arbitrary changes to virtually every character; the fact that the "second-tier" characters (Don, Connie, etc) have virtually no stories at all, etc.

[Jon]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:26am

They all have very nice bodies.

[Spacedog78]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 11:35am

i hated the film, hated hated hated it!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 12:20pm

It certainly wasn't Alyson Reed's hair don't.

[roquat]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 12:49pm

Vicki Fredericks (who played Cassie on Broadway) had a fairly long career with several embarrassments (a ladies-wrestling movie whose name I forget with Peter Falk, a supporting role in Sharon Stone's psycho-slasher movie "Scissors", a guest spot on "Murder She Wrote"). I agree she is the definitive Sheila, and I loved the way "At the Ballet" was shot in the movie--until Maggie hits her high note and the camera tilts up at the ceiling, subjecting us to twenty seconds of absolute blackness. Couldn't they have shown us some dream-ballerina images? Also, I loved the strong, funny, admirable actress who played Bebe (a kind of nonentity role in the stage version)--what was her name? Ditto whoever played Diana Morales.

Otherwise--ugh. All the flashbacks and the Cassie "backstory" bring the film to a halt; Don's speech is unwatchably inarticulate; the "Surprise" sex number is a DISMAL substitute for "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen" (is there nothing more to adolescence than sex?) and the dance sequences remain stagebound (you can tell where they are hiding Audrey Landers' ineptitude). Giving "What I Did for Love" to Cassie was the last straw. It's supposed to be about the quest of all dancers, not one woman's unfortunate love life.

[NBC]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 1:08pm

Redeeming qualities:

Scott Wise and Gregory Mitchell in the early audition scenes; Scott, Gregory and David Warren-Gibson in the One finale.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 1:11pm

I love laughing at the lyrics of Surprise! Thats always fun to do when I'm bored.....I'm not serious, but it does bring a smile to my face

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 1:16pm

I do think that Vicki's Shelia is very good, as is Yamil Borges plays a nice Diana, her "Nothing" is the vocal highlight of the show for me.

I also hate that "Hello Twelve..." has been basically cut, I hate "Suprise, Suprise". And what is with the one random good note that Audrey Landers hits in "Dance 10..."? When she goes "and you find" it is, i don't know, randomly good.

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 1:16pm

until Maggie hits her high note and the camera tilts up at the ceiling, subjecting us to twenty seconds of absolute blackness. Couldn't they have shown us some dream-ballerina images?

I thought the same thing!! I hate that part!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 1:22pm

Unfortunately, director Richard Attenborough didn't know much about musical theater and what makes it work and what doesn't. He obviously didn't watch any of the classic musical movies such as West Side Story, Grease or The Sound of Music. I will give him credit in that ACL is a very difficult musical because the action is very confined and cerebral, but a genius director could have overcome that. To his discredit, the stage version of ACL is very cinematic in its staging; I believe that if someone had copied the Broadway version it would have been better than what we were given.

[JemimaPearl]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 5:39pm

Two Words: Terrence Mann

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 11/10/06 at 6:47pm

There is nothing redeeming about the movie except for the fact that it basically has disappeared. May it stay that way.

[CJR]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 12:01am

To fill in some gaps.....

The name of the wrestling movie with Peter Falk is All the Marbles. That movie pre-dates ACL by 4 years though.

Vicki was also in All That Jazz, Scissors, Chaplin (she took no rolling credit for this movie), Stewardess School, Body Rock (almost more embarrassing than Chopper Chicks, but entertaining for the fact that Vicki has really horrifying hair and gets to rap; though that in and of itself is marginally alarming), Chopper Chicks in Zombietown (yes, that's highly embarrassing and yes, she does get blown up under a bus) and Coast to Coast.

She also had a string of TV appearances...... her complete bio (accurate as it's per Vicki herself) can be found here: https://www.broadwayworld.com/bios/viewstar.cfm?starid=58

NBC, amen sister, re: Greg, David and Scott. I've definitely been missing talent like theirs lately.

[JarNerdAV]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 6:53pm

While the movie basically is a very poor version of the stage show, there are some really good performances in my opinion:
#1 Vicki Fredrick as Shiela
#2 Cameron English as Paul
#3 Pam Klinger as Maggie
#4 Yamil Borges as Diana
#5 Terrence Mann as Larry
#6 Michelle Johnston as Bebe.

Everybody else was just okay. The changes to the songs were not only unnecessary but also pretty much ruined the movie. The Zach and Cassie flashbacks were awful and giving Cassie "What I Did For Love" a tragedy. Other than that, it was an opportunity for a lot of kids (like me) who couldn't get to Broadway or to a city with tours a chance to sample the show. It made me buy the OBC recording, which, to this day, is one show I listen to constantly.

[Luvinbroadway]

Posted: 11/11/06 at 6:58pm

Terrence Mann in a dancebelt!