Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2102 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-01
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Synopsis
This Hollywood adaptation of the classic Broadway musical sparkles with glamour and reverberates with the energy of good, old-fashioned song and dance. As the film leaps into its first riveting act, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), one half of the famous number she performs with her sister, arrives at the night club late, dishevelled, and with blood on her hands. Nonetheless, she goes onstage unhindered and wows the crowd with her shimmying rendition of "All That Jazz." Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) a young blond who dreams of someday being famous like Velma, watches from the audience with eyes full of envy. Later, as the cops pick up Velma for the murder of her sister, sending her fame to all-time heights as she becomes a tabloid sensation, Roxie also commits a crime of passion--shooting a lover who falsely promised to secure her cabaret debut. The girls wind up together in jail, where Mama Morton (Queen Latifah), a compassionate guard, is their only hope of redemption; and Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) is the lawyer who can get them out. There, through wonderfully familiar songs like "Razzle Dazzle," "Cell-Block Tango," and "Cellophane Man" Roxie and Velma tell their story of competing for bad-girl celebrity.
Director Rob Marshall presents a loveable CHICAGO that shares all the grit and grime of the Bob Fosse Broadway original with phenomenal performances by this grouping of Hollywood stars. The dizzying camerawork and dazzling sets make an easy transition from stage to film.

Customer Reviews

Chicago
If you love musical theatre, good singing and dancing you should love this.

Renee Zellweger is good, but Catherine Zeta Jones is far better, she has "stage presence" and a far better real woman's body than Renee's skinny one!

Chicargo
I saw the stage show and was delighted with the cast,the music and best of all the dance routines.i.e non stop entertainment!
I did not get this from the original film.My intention was to buy the live show version with the touring company starring `Emma Bunton.I was unable to find this version so opted for the original and ended up being disappointed.

They don't make 'em like they used to
I'm old fashioned and like my musicals to be straightforward. The new trend, beginning with Moulin Rouge, is to add gimmicks and film tricks which, to my mind, do not improve the comprehensibilty or the enjoyment. This is a good film, full of tuneful jazzy music, excellent dancing (choreographed by Bob Fosse), some nice humour and some good acting but partially spoiled by the split camera work during some of the musical numbers. Very clever I must admit but too distracting when I am enjoying the music and dancing for it's own sake. Fosse himself used this technique in Cabaret but in much more moderation. Very enjoyable film but it ain't 'Singin in the Rain'