Chicago

 I miss Bob Fosse. I miss Joel Gray and Ben Vereen and Ann Ranking.

These guys aren't bad, though. They really fill the screen, and live up to the director's demands. As a film, this one stands strong with both critics and the audience, and well above average at that. The spectacle sparkles. Scenes in the dreary prison pass quickly, and with plenty of pizazz, so the camera moves quickly from gray cells into the visually flashy songs.

At this point I must mention that I found the scene-jumping during musical numbers both fascinating and frustrating. It seemed analogous to the main themes of the movie, though.

My real problem came with the innocent girl's hanging. I sobbed for her, and the irony, and the tragedy. But the movie spent ZERO time grappling with that idea, and used it entirely as a motivation for Roxie (Renee Zellweger) to capitulate to her lawyer's controlling demands. It all makes sense that the one serious moment would drown in the spectacle (it reinforces the irony), but like the poet and the sun, the moment of truth, of rebellion against an oppressive system, ultimately only serves to uphold that system, not to arrive at somewhere real.

Rob Marshall did his work well. Both critics and audiences laud the film still, but I'm still clinging to the painful irony.