Chicago Blog

Director: Bill London

Starring: Renee Zellweger (Roxie Hart), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma Kelly), Queen Latifah (Matron Mama Morton) , and Richard Gere (Billy Flynn)

Producer Circle co., 2002

Winner of Best Picture at the 2002 Academy Awards, Chicago is a delightfully artistic, musical based upon the stage musical of the same name. Featuring star performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, chipmunk-cheeks herself Rene Zellweger, and a truly exceptional John C Reilly, Chicago is a fast paced, well made version of the famous story. Set in the titular city in the early 20’s, young starlet Roxy Hart visits a club to watch a performance by Zeta-Jones, while her lover is (apparently) seeking to get Roxy a gig at the place. When Roxy discovers here lover is only interested in her for sex, and has no intention of getting her into a show, Roxy kills him in a fit of pique, her dreams being shattered before her eyes. However, killing the man makes her more famous than she could have dreamed, as her story makes the front pages of the local papers. Roxy’s husband, Amos (Reilly) tries to take the rap, but when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him, sends her down the river.

The fame Roxy seeks, which has come to her now she’s a killer, is hard to maintain in prison, where she’s leaned on by the head matron, “Mama”, played by Queen Latifah. Using bribery and sex to achieve their ends, the women of this prison engage in a cat-and-mouse fame game with the paparazzi of the city, each striving to become more “infamous” than the other and thus secure their release at the mercy of the court. Roxy, believing herself to be up for the death penalty, acquires the services of Billy Flynn, local super-lawyer who promises to get her out of the clink and back to making money as a famous ex-inmate, and murderess. Roxy becomes a little full of herself, thinking she’s all that, when in fact, the power to grant her fame rests squarely with those on the outside, and her haughty demeanour soon comes crashing down when others become more famous then her. Faking a pregnancy buys her a little time, but it’s fast running out. Together with Flynn, Roxy fanagles a way to get out of prison, however, she soon finds that her fame wanes quite quickly.

Chicago is a great film, period. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood got it’s claws into the famed musical. Honestly, I’d never seen or heard to much about the original musical, prior to seeing this film. I hadn’t actually had any experience with the story as such, and so, when viewing Chicago for the first time, was pleasantly amazed at just how cool the thing was.

Chicago is an unadulterated good time. It plays on the fixations of fame that never seem to wane, and what lengths people will go to, and how much of their soul they’ll sell, to achieve it. Stylish, brash and enthusiastic, this is a grab-you-by-the-collar musical that, unlike a few other films of recent times, actually deserves its Best Picture Oscar status.