Chicago (2002)

Director:

Rob Marshall

Writers (WGA):

Bill Condon (screenplay)
Bob Fosse (book) ...

Release Date:

24 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Musical

Tagline:

With the right song and dance, you can get away with murder.

Plot:

Murderesses Velma Kelly (a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister after finding them in bed together) and Roxie Hart (who killed her boyfriend when she discovered he wasn't going to make her a star) find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Fame | 1920s | Vaudeville | Jail

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 34 wins & 54 nominations

Cast

Taye Diggs	...	Bandleader
Renée Zellweger	...	Roxie Hart
Cliff Saunders	...	Stage Manager
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Velma Kelly
Richard Gere	...	Billy Flynn
Queen Latifah	...	Matron Mama Morton
John C. Reilly	...	Amos Hart
Dominic West	...	Fred Casely
Christine Baranski	...	Mary Sunshine
Jayne Eastwood	...	Mrs. Borusewicz
Bruce Beaton	...	Police Photographer
Roman Podhora	...	Sergeant Fogarty
Colm Feore	...	Harrison
Rob Smith	...	Newspaper Photographer
Sean Wayne Doyle	...	Reporter

Also Known As:

Chicago (Germany)
Chicago: The Musical (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and dialogue, violence and thematic elements.

Runtime:

113 min | Turkey:80 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #39516) | Netherlands:MG6 | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | South Korea:15 | France:U | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:11 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG (cut) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

The play "Chicago" was Maurine Dallas Watkins' retelling of two very public murder trials that occurred in Chicago in 1924, those of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Watkins had been a reporter for the Chicago Tribune (real life Mary Sunshine) and later wrote a play based on her coverage.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene "I can't do it alone" there is one shot where Velma cartwheels over the chair, and we can see Roxie looking straight at her. But in the very next shot, Roxie is looking down at a paper, and just giving Velma a small glance with one eye.

Quotes:

Billy Flynn: This is Chicago, kid. You can't beat fresh blood on the walls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 101 Biggest Celebrity Oops (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Class

Great fun, simply a very entertaining movie.

Funny thing about watching a movie like "Chicago", which won the award for Best Picture last year. I eagerly awaited the DVD, and when I first sat down to watch it, I didn't finish it. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. I began to wonder what all the hoopla was about. Now, a couple of weeks later, I watched it from the beginning and now I "get" it. I must have been in a different mood, because this time everything "clicked" for me, it was great fun, simply a very entertaining movie. Now I'm glad I own the DVD, aside from my desire to have as many Oscar winners as I can. The whole story is a parody of fame, crime, and use of a slick lawyer to fool a jury. I will enjoy watching it again and again.

My favorite scene was where Gere's lawyer was puppetteer to Zellweger's Roxie, the acting, the singing, the timing were all just perfect. It has been well-publicized that Zellweger neither sang nor danced professionally before "Chicago", and I found her more than adequate for the role of Roxie. In fact, I quite enjoy her singing voice. Yet, Catherine Z-J has the more powerful, trained voice, having started out on stage, and it is apparent when they are together that Z-J is the more seasoned performer. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well Gere handled his singing duties. Some have complained about his somewhat "nasal" singing voice, but to me it fit his character well. A rich, operatic baritone would have been out of character.

I viewed the DVD with the DTS track selected and it delivers with a fine surround sound. Plus, the picture is very sharp, in all a good DVD to own for fans of musical comedies.