Good Review Of Chicago

Good review of "Chicago" and its place in American movie musicals. The movie is great! I especially like Catharine Zeta-Jones. Even the controversial decisions the director Rob Marshall made, like leaving songs like 'Class' out, were great choices, in my opinion (I don't like that song, and it slows things down - besides, it's not necessary to harp upon Roxie and Velma's hypocrisies, since they are already so evident).

What I find mystifying is seeing various reviews, and noticing how many critics seem to hold "Chicago" to a higher standard than almost any other movie out there (maybe that's the fate of all Oscar contenders). For example, one reviewer (Mark Steyn) thought the convention of slipping into reality for dialogue, and fantasy for songs, was trite. Hello! That is standard movie musical convention, and maybe it would have been interesting to invert that choice and watch the outcome, but only in the same way that it was so interesting to watch the Space Shuttle Columbia return to Earth last Feb. 1st. Then the reviewer from the Las Vegas Review-Journal thought that an even better picture could have been made with different stars, and who knows, perhaps she's right, but who might these people be? Stanley Kauffman thought Renee Zellwegger was not on top of her material, but then again, Roxie is supposed to be an apprentice murderess, after all.

My opinion? I thought Rob Marshall and company did a pretty darn good job!