Rating: PG13
Genre:
Musical
Release Date: 08/19/2003
SubTitles: Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD5.1/DTS
Run Time: 113 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Miramax
A starry-eyed would-be star discovers just how far the notion that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" can go in this screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical
Chicago, originally directed and choreographed by
Bob Fosse. In the mid-'20s,
Roxie Hart (
Renee Zellweger) is a small-time chorus dancer married to a well-meaning dunderhead named
Amos (
John C. Reilly).
Roxie is having an affair on the side with
Fred Casley (
Dominic West), a smooth talker who insists he can make her a star. However,
Fred strings
Roxie along a bit too far for his own good, and when she realizes that his promises are empty, she becomes enraged and murders
Fred in cold blood.
Roxie soon finds herself behind bars alongside
Velma Kelly (
Catherine Zeta-Jones), a sexy vaudeville star who used to perform with her sister until
Velma discovered that her sister had been sleeping with her husband.
Velma shot them both dead, and, after scheming prison matron
"Mama" Morton hooks
Velma up with hotshot lawyer
Billy Flynn (
Richard Gere),
Velma becomes the new Queen of the scandal sheets.
Roxie is just shrewd enough to realize that her poor fortune could also bring her fame, so she convinces
Amos to also hire
Flynn. Soon
Flynn is splashing
Roxie's story -- or, more accurately, a highly melodramatic revision of
Roxie's story -- all over the gutter press, and
Roxy and
Velma are soon battling neck-to-neck over who can win greater fame through the headlines. A project that had been moving from studio to studio since the musical opened on Broadway in 1973,
Chicago also features guest appearances by
Lucy Liu and
Christine Baranski.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
