Review Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003

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"In this town, murder is a form of entertainment." Matron 'Mama' Morton (Queen Latifah) CASS' CLIP (WARNING: **spoilers below**) Okay, now I'm not the kind of person to gossip, but since it was told to my great auntie on my daddy's side of the family, who told my cousins, and I just happened to be eavesdropping while I was at their house, I can tell you. It was during the 1920's, and my great, great auntie was serving some time in Chicago Cook County Jail with two women who were on murderess' row. It was rumored that one night Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), appeared on stage without the other half of her act, her sister. Audience goers said that Velma sang and danced her Vaudevillian ass off as if it were her final act. Perhaps they were right because moments after electrifying the audience with her suggestive dressing and belting out "All That Jazz," Velma was arrested. She was charged with murdering her sister and husband, and claimed that she didn't remember offing the two-timing duo, even though she believed they deserved their inevitable fate. Velma's incarceration was temporarily front-page news, because there was always another murder or scandal happening in Chicago. In the audience that night was wannabe Vaudeville star, Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger). Roxie idolized Velma and wanted to be just like her, even if that meant that Roxie temporarily emulated Velma in her mind's eye. However, Roxie's dream of stardom took an unlikely turn. Ya see, Roxie was having an affair with furniture salesman, Fred Casely (Dominic West), because he told her that he had connections with some showbiz folks who could put her name up in lights. It seems Fred simply lied to Roxie about his connections just to sleep with her. [Do men really do that? Nooooo]. Well, there's nothing like a woman scorned, especially an unstable, star-struck dreamer like Roxie. Fred zigged instead of zagged and wound up taking the bad end of several bullets, which Roxie deliberately fired at him. Roxie tried, unsuccessfully that is, to get her dutiful husband, Amos (John C. Reilly), to say that he killed Fred because he thought Fred was a burglar. But when Amos refused to cover for Roxie, after he learned the truth about his adulterous wife, Roxie was arrested and sent to Cook County Jail to await trial. While in lockup, the warden in charge of Velma and Roxie's living arrangements was Mama Morton (Queen Latifah). Mama quickly schooled them on the prison's back-scratching etiquette of "When you're good to Mama, Mama's good to you." With her connections, Mama arranged for both women to be represented by Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), a fast-talking, and flimflam of an attorney, who never lost a case. Billy was so cocky, he was even heard saying, "If Jesus Christ lived in Chicago and He would have come to me, things would have come out differently." Even though Velma was not happy that Roxie had stolen her limelight, she knew that Roxie was only as good as the next big case, because Flynn's number one client was money (which was the case when Go-to-Hell Kitty (Lucy Liu) joined them in the slammer after she killed her husband and his lover). But Roxie's shocking revelation, kept the media hype focused on her until her trial. Billy skillfully manipulated the press into sympathizing with Roxie's situation, while Mary Sunshine (Christine Baranski), a Chicago Tribune reporter, kept trial watchers entertained with every sleazy detail being testified to at the trial of the century. The circus-like atmosphere also kept courtroom goers mesmerized by every witness's testimony. Even though Billy had perfectly choreographed Roxie's defense, when the jury deliberated for only a couple of hours, many wondered if Roxie's case cost Mr. flamboyant Flynn his winning streak. [For the record, and in case you're wondering what happened to my great-great auntie, Billy Flynn also represented her for a crime she was unfairly charged with. They lived happily ever after, dangling between the scales of justice, that is, until she caught him philandering with his secretary]. DA 411 A little background information -- Chicago can be traced back to Chicago Tribune reporter, Maurine Dallas Watkins' 1926 play, which was loosely based on the real murderesses, Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan. After the play opened to rave reviews, a 1927 silent movie was made. This real life story continued to fascinate people and a somewhat different version of this story, Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers, was released by Century Fox in 1942. In 1975, Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb and John Kander stunned audiences with their Tony award-winning Broadway musical play, Chicago, staring Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon and Jerry Orbach. Rob Marshall's current day Chicago is a wonderful mix of Broadway's musical show-stopping performances and moviemaking magic. I eagerly waited to see Chicago, and I was not disappointed. Marshall narrates the plot through Roxie's imagination because she is so awestruck by stardom that she begins to live her life as it were on stage. Renee Zellweger's comedic timing and believable characterization of Roxie, compensates for her not-so great singing and dancing. On the other hand, Catherine Zeta-Jones struts her sultry and seductive body across the screen with confidence because this diva knows she can dance. This is evident when Zeta-Jones performs her rendition of "All That Jazz," and is teamed up with the Deirdre Goodwin, Denise Faye, Mya Harrison, Susan Misner, and Ekaterina Schelkanova, in the "Cell Block Tango". I wish Queen Latifah had more screen time, but when she belts out "When You're Good To Mama (Mama's Good to You)," I could see just how much fun she was having playing this character. Also lacking screen time was Taye Diggs, the melodious bandleader, whose role was simply used to introduce characters or transition scenes. I must admit that I did a double take when I initially saw Richard Gere attempt to "Razzle Dazzle" us. But when Gere and Zellweger teamed up for a press conference, wherein he is the ventriloquist and Roxie the dummy, and they sing and dance "We Both Reached for the Gun," all I could do was sit back and enjoy his performance. And you can call me crazy, but when John C. Reilly dressed up as a sad clown and sang his only number, "Mr. Cellophane," I was practically moved to tears. Chicago has already received eight Golden Globe nominations, which include best picture, best screenplay, best director, best actress and supporting actress, best actor and supporting actor. If you're looking for pure entertainment worth the price of admission, then don't miss Chicago. CASS' CONCLUSION The performances by all involved in this production of Chicago will simply blow you away! CHICAGO:   back to top Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2003 EMAIL: cass@3blackchicks.com