Chicago (2002 film)


Chicago is a 2002 American musical black comedy crime film based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name. It explores the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. Chicago centers on Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly two murderesses who find themselves in jail together awaiting trial in 1920s Chicago. Roxie, a housewife, and Velma, a vaudevillian, fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. The film marks the theatrical directorial debut of Rob Marshall, who also choreographed the film, and was adapted by screenwriter Bill Condon, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Critically lauded, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture, the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver! in 1968.

Plot

In 1924, Roxie Hart watches lead role Velma Kelly perform at a Chicago theater. Wanting stardom for herself, she begins an affair with Fred Casely, who claims to know the manager. After the show, Velma is arrested for killing her husband Charlie and sister Veronica, after finding them in bed together.
A month later, Casely admits to Roxie that he has no showbiz connections and just wanted to sleep with her. Enraged, she shoots him dead. She convinces her husband, Amos, to take the blame, telling him she killed a burglar in self-defense. As Amos confesses to the detective, Roxie fantasizes that she is singing a song devoted to her husband. However, when the detective brings up evidence that Roxie and Casely were having an affair, Amos recants; Roxie furiously admits what really happened and is arrested. Ambitious District Attorney Harrison announces he will seek the death penalty.
At Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderess' Row, under the care of the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton. Roxie meets her idol Velma, but her friendship is rudely rebuffed. She learns the backstories of the other women there, including Velma. On Morton's advice, Roxie engages Velma's lawyer, the brilliant Billy Flynn. Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press, reinventing Roxie's identity as an originally virtuous woman turned bad by the fast life of the city; she claims she had the affair with Casely because Amos was always working, but repented and dumped him for Amos, and Casely jealously attacked her. The press believe the story; praised by the public as a tragic heroine, Roxie becomes an overnight sensation. Velma, unhappy at losing the public's attention, tries to convince Roxie to join her act, replacing the sister that she murdered, but Roxie, now the more popular of the two rivals, snubs her just as Velma originally snubbed Roxie.
Meanwhile, Kitty "Go-To-Hell Kitty" Baxter, a wealthy heiress, is arrested for murdering her husband and his two lovers, and the press and Flynn pay more attention to her. To Velma's surprise, Roxie quickly steals back the fame by claiming to be pregnant. Amos is ignored by the press, and Flynn, to create more sympathy for Roxie, convinces him that the child is Casely's, and that he should divorce Roxie in the middle of her predicament. Roxie over-confidently fires Flynn, believing she can now win on her own. However, when Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian woman on Murderess' Row, becomes the first woman in Cook County history to be executed by hanging, Roxie realizes the gravity of the situation and rehires Flynn.
Roxie's trial begins, and Billy turns it into a media spectacle with the help of the sensationalist newspaper reporters and radio personality Mary Sunshine. Billy discredits witnesses, manipulates evidence, and even stages a public reconciliation between Amos and Roxie when she says the child is his. The trial seems to be going Roxie's way until Velma appears with Roxie's diary: she reads incriminating entries in exchange for amnesty in her own case. Billy discredits the diary, implying that Harrison was the one who planted the evidence. Roxie is acquitted, but her fame is eclipsed moments later when another woman, who had also shot her own husband, shoots her lawyer just outside the courthouse. Flynn tells her to accept it, and admits that he tampered with her diary himself, in order to incriminate the district attorney and also free two clients at once. Amos remains loyal and excited to be a father, but Roxie cruelly rejects him, revealing that she is not pregnant, and he finally leaves her.
Roxie does become a vaudeville performer, but is very unsuccessful. Velma is just as unsuccessful, and again approaches Roxie to suggest performing together: a double act consisting of two murderers. Roxie initially refuses, but later accepts when Velma points out that they can perform together despite their resentment for each other. The two stage a spectacular performance that earns them the love of the audience and the press. The film concludes with Roxie and Velma receiving a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience, and proclaiming that, "We couldn't have done it without you".

Cast

  1. "Overture / All That Jazz" – Velma, Company
  2. "Funny Honey" – Roxie And Amos
  3. "When You're Good to Mama" – Mama
  4. "Cell Block Tango" – Velma, Cell Block Girls
  5. "All I Care About" – Billy, Chorus Girls
  6. "We Both Reached for the Gun" – Billy, Roxie, Mary, Reporters
  7. "Roxie" – Roxie, Chorus Boys
  8. "I Can't Do It Alone" – Velma
  9. "Mister Cellophane" – Amos
  10. "Razzle Dazzle" – Billy, Company
  11. "Class" – Velma and Mama
  12. "A Tap Dance" – Billy
  13. "Nowadays" – Roxie
  14. "Nowadays / Hot Honey Rag" – Roxie, Velma
  15. "I Move On" – Roxie and Velma
  16. "All That Jazz " – Velma, Company

    Production and development

The film is based on the 1975 Broadway musical, which ran for 936 performances but was not well received by audiences, primarily due to the show's cynical tone. A film version of Chicago was to have been the next project for Bob Fosse, who had directed and choreographed the original 1975 Broadway production and had won an Oscar for his direction of the film version of Cabaret. Although he died before realizing his version, Fosse's distinctive jazz choreography style is evident throughout the 2002 film, and he is thanked in the credits. The minimalist 1996 revival of the musical proved far more successful, having played more than 9,562 performances, holding records for longest-running musical revival, longest-running American musical on Broadway, and second longest-running show in Broadway history. Its runaway success sparked a greater appreciation of the 1975 original production and renewed stalled interest in a long-anticipated film adaptation, which incorporates the influences of both productions.
The original production's musical numbers were staged as vaudeville acts; the film respects this but presents them as cutaway scenes in the mind of the Roxie character, while scenes in "real life" are filmed with a hard-edged grittiness. The musical itself was based on a 1926 Broadway play by Maurine Watkins about two real-life Jazz-era murderers Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. The George Abbott-directed production, starring Francine Larrimore and Juliette Crosby, ran for 172 performances at the Music Box Theatre, and within a year was adapted to a film in which Gaertner herself had a cameo. Chicago was produced by American companies Miramax Films and The Producers Circle in association with the German company Kallis Productions.
Chicago was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The courthouse scene was shot in Osgoode Hall. Other scenes were filmed at Queen's Park, the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery, Casa Loma, the Elgin Theatre, Union Station, the Canada Life Building, the Danforth Music Hall, and at the Old City Hall.

Release

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 86% approval rating, based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 7.96/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A rousing and energetic adaptation of the Broadway musical, Chicago succeeds on the level of pure spectacle, but provides a surprising level of depth and humor as well." On Metacritic, the film holds an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 39 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."
The cast received widespread acclaim for their performances. Tim Robey, writer for The Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom, labeled Chicago as "The best screen musical for 30 years." He also stated that it has taken a "three-step tango for us to welcome back the movie musical as a form." Robey said "This particular Chicago makes the most prolific use it possibly can out of one specific advantage the cinema has over the stage when it comes to song and dance: it's a sustained celebration of parallel montage." Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "Big, brassy fun". However, other reviews claimed that there were issues with the film being too streamlined, and minor complaints were made toward Marshall's directing influences.

Box office

The film grossed $170,687,518 in the United States and Canada, as well $136,089,214 in other territories. Combined, the film grossed $306,776,732 worldwide, which was, at the time, the highest gross of any film never to reach #1 or #2 in the weekly box office charts in the North American markets. This record has since been outdone by . Worldwide, Chicago was the highest grossing live action musical with $306 million, a record that was then broken by Mamma Mia!.

Legacy

Chicago, along with the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge! and the hip hop centered film 8 Mile in 2002, is widely considered to be responsible for ushering a re-emergence of the musical film genre in the 21st century. Following the success of Chicago, many musical films have been released in cinemas, with several adapted from stage productions for Broadway and London's West End, including Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, ', Mamma Mia!, Nine, Les Misérables, Rock of Ages, The Last Five Years, Into The Woods, and Cats. The 2013 Scottish film Sunshine on Leith was also adapted from a stage production, originating with Scotland's Dundee Repertory Theatre.
Japanese rock band Buck-Tick named their 2010 album Razzle Dazzle after the film's song of the same name.
The revived interest in musical films has also brought remakes or sequels to earlier films, including Beauty and the Beast in 2017, the 2018 films: ', A Star Is Born and Mary Poppins Returns, and 2019 films: Aladdin and The Lion King. Notable original and biographical musical films have also been released to critical and commercial success since Chicago's cinematic run, including Walk the Line in 2005, Once in 2006, Enchanted in 2007, La La Land in 2016, and Rocketman in 2019. Other original and biographical musical films that were released to commercial success with mixed critical reception, includes Across the Universe in 2007, The Greatest Showman in 2017, Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018, and Yesterday in 2019.
Many of Chicago's cast and crew have also gone on to work in succeeding musicals, including director Rob Marshall, writer Bill Condon, costume designer Colleen Atwood, and actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and Christine Baranski.

Home media

Chicago was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 19, 2003. It was released in Full Screen and Widescreen. In addition to this release, a two-disc "Razzle Dazzle" Edition was released over two years later on December 20, 2005, and later, on Blu-ray format, in January 2007 and, in an updated release, in May 2011. Miramax was the label responsible for the production of the DVDs and the discs themselves provide a feature-length audio commentary track with director Marshall and screenwriter Condon. There is also a deleted musical number called "Class", performed by Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah.

Accolades