The biggest question I had watching this stunning mess of a movie was, who thought Sidney Lumet was the right person to direct it? Who watched such gritty classics as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network and said, "Hey, that's the guy we should get to make a campy, pastel-colored, black-themed, song-and-dance extravaganza!" I know, I know...the producers wanted to change the film from the original Broadway show, do something different, make it more gritty, more urban, and Lumet knew his way around that sort of thing. But making a musical was not his forte. For anyone questioning this, check out "The Wiz".
Forget the fact that the source material just isn't very good. (There's a reason "Ease on Down the Road" is played over and over again...it's the only decent song in the whole thing.) Forget the fact that Joel Schumacher, who years later decided the Batsuit needed nipples, wrote (or rather scrawled) an awful script. Forget the fact that the costumes look like they were found in a Dumpster outside Party Fair. All of these things could easily have been overlooked if only the direction hadn't been so ham-handed. Watching the musical numbers, you just want to reach into the screen, grab Lumet, and force him to move his camera a bit. Each number is shot in the most static fashion, with barely a zoom, a pan, or a dolly. It's like watching a filmed stage production with real NYC locations brought into the theater. I understand this was before the era of MTV, and I'm not asking for Michael Bay-type direction, but where Lumet's static direction worked with such dialogue-heavy dramas as Network and Dog Day (and later Prince of the City), the exact opposite approach was needed here.
I don't want to sound like I'm knocking Lumet for being a bad director. Nothing could be further from the truth. But some directors, even great ones, are not meant to make certain movies. I believe he took the job for the paycheck and while there's nothing inherently wrong with that, you can't feel any passion for the project coming through. I just wonder what would have happened if a filmmaker with a real passion for the job had taken on "The Wiz".
Forget the fact that the source material just isn't very good. (There's a reason "Ease on Down the Road" is played over and over again...it's the only decent song in the whole thing.) Forget the fact that Joel Schumacher, who years later decided the Batsuit needed nipples, wrote (or rather scrawled) an awful script. Forget the fact that the costumes look like they were found in a Dumpster outside Party Fair. All of these things could easily have been overlooked if only the direction hadn't been so ham-handed. Watching the musical numbers, you just want to reach into the screen, grab Lumet, and force him to move his camera a bit. Each number is shot in the most static fashion, with barely a zoom, a pan, or a dolly. It's like watching a filmed stage production with real NYC locations brought into the theater. I understand this was before the era of MTV, and I'm not asking for Michael Bay-type direction, but where Lumet's static direction worked with such dialogue-heavy dramas as Network and Dog Day (and later Prince of the City), the exact opposite approach was needed here.
I don't want to sound like I'm knocking Lumet for being a bad director. Nothing could be further from the truth. But some directors, even great ones, are not meant to make certain movies. I believe he took the job for the paycheck and while there's nothing inherently wrong with that, you can't feel any passion for the project coming through. I just wonder what would have happened if a filmmaker with a real passion for the job had taken on "The Wiz".