Rating: 
Summary: Very good
Review: I rented this for my wife. She is musically inclined and enjoys musicals and is a very good sport as I make her sit there through movies like "the Scorpion King". I generally hate musicals and was not really looking forward to watching this at all, but did so in the interest of marital bliss.It is actually really good. My biggest beef with musicals is that I often can't pay attention while the singing is going on and thus, have no idea how the singing is advancing the plot. Not so in this movie...you can follow what is going on in the singing portions. Also, I'm always a sucker for anything that is visually interesting. I can't imagine how much work went into the choreography, training of the actors, lighting, etc. It is really something to look at from a visual point of view. Very stylish and different. Last, the characters.... They are all really cruddy folks. Two killers, a slimy lawyer and a corrupt wardeness. Guess Roxie's husband is not a slime-ball. This isn't a group of folks that you really wish success for, but they do come out okay in the end. The story is kind of how slimeballs can overcome the system which isn't great. You definately wouldn't want to show this to 10 year old kids. BUT...that being said...I like action movies with stuff blowing up and monters/aliens...who cares about plot and character development. In this movie you can just kinda tune out on the plot and enjoy the show.
Rating: 
Summary: Nifty Chicago
Review:
I think most people know the storyline well by now. Chicago owns it very much to the nifty foot work and dazzling colors by the cast.
The plot by itself, isn't deep. In fact, when I watched it, I find it over-the-top and more comical than anything else. There's hardly any emotional depth portrayed by the anyone in the movie but special commendation goes to Queen Latifah whose single stage appearance for When You Good To Mama stole the thunder from almost anyone in the movie. Academy winner Catherine Zeta Jones also deserved praise for her sultry portrayal of Kelly Velma and the rendition of the songs. Renee Zwelleger's Roxie Hart is good but not exceptional. Richard Gere's vocals are obviously enhanced and I would say John C Riley puts in more than a passable effort than Gere.
The razzle dazzle culminates in the finale scene with Velma and Roxie performing a very slinky and well-choreographed scene for I Move On against a stunning backdrop of bright lights.
In the end, Chicago is fun and entertaining to watch. Lots of action and great hot moves.
Rating:
Summary: The best musical ever made?
Review: After seeing this amazing movie one could very well make a case for this being the best musical ever made. While "Singing in the Rain" and "An American In Paris" were both loads of fun and packed with classic moments, "Chicago" has one thing going for it that the afrementioned films do not. It is "timeless." Twenty, thiry years from now somebody somehwere will pop in this movie and declare: "The topics in this film are as relevant today as they were when it was first written in the 1930's." To be honest, I saw the production on stage and was not that impressed with the staging or singing. However, the talent gathered in this film is absolutely stunning. Renee Zellweger deserved the Oscar for Best Actress, and would have won if not for Nicole Kidman's nomination and Nicole's previous nomination for Moulin Rouge. But all the performances are astounding. All the lead actors dance and sing, most notably and oddly snubbed Richard Gere. His performance was Oscar worthy without a doubt, conjuring an image of Gene Kelly throughout the movie. His number "Razzle Dazzle" is not to be missed. John C. Reilly's "Mr. Cellophane" is also an extraordinary moment. What a voice! All the singing is great, the costumes are incredibly sexy, and the overally filmaking is top-notch. I cannot recommend this movie higly enough. Thank you for reading my review.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: This picture has a lot going for it. The John Kander-Fred Ebb songs fit the cynical story perfectly, have stong melodies and sharp lyrics. There are a pair of knock-out performances from Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah (who knew she had that good a voice?), plus an excellent one from John C. Reilly as Amos. Rob Marshall's direction is a bit too MTV for me; it's as if he's trying to cover up his cast's song-and-dance inadequacies when, at least in the case of Zeta-Jones, Latifah and Reilly, there don't appear to be any inadequacies to cover up. Even Richard Gere seems competent in his tap sequence when Marshall isn't going cut-mad. The main problem is Zellweger. She doesn't register at all, and truly does seem to need her inadequacies disguised by MTV editing. The one time she really dances is in the last number and that's where some of the fastest edits are; maybe she was only good for 2-3 seconds at a time. As for Gere, he was better than I expected but not what the part could have been. I may have that opinion because I saw the original Broadway cast, and got spoiled. Their Billy Flynn was Jerry Orbach (yes, "Law and Order" Jerry Orbach), and, to me, no one will ever do it as well. In short, this is a good picture, but it would have been better with less frantic editing and a better lead actress then Zellweger. And yes, give me Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn -- nobody does cynical better.
Rating:
Summary: very entertaining, but . . .
Review: Anyone who views this film will spend two very entertaining hours, but I have to admit to a certain amounbt of disappointmnt, particularly as compared to the stage play. Obviously the film has been thoroughly "conceptualized" as a sort of "Cabaret" clone, with the cabaret nuymbers transformed into theatrical metaphors (Mr. Cellophane as a baggypants comedian, for example). Along these lines, the producers decided to hire actors rather than musicians in the key roles, and that's the chief limitation of the film. Neither of the two main leads can sing much or dance at all, so basically they wiggle and strike a few poses while the camera does all the dancing. This is disastrous in "I Can't Do IT Alone," ("it" being her song and dance act with her sister) where it's obvious that the performer can't do it at all. Nor does the final number, where the two women are supposed to do their new song and dance act, make any sense since neither of them can sing or dance. Other actors fare equally poorly. Queen Latifah is simply miscast as the prison matron. Her persona and singing style are much too soft and "matronly" (in the wrong sense) for such a "tough as nails broad." I can't believe she could have ever gotten control of the inmates. Even the great John C. Reilly seems uncomfortable in the ill-conceived (Mr. Cellophane is supposed to be anonymous, not abrasive like a baggypants comic) number. He seems to be asking himself why they didn't hire a real singer for the role.
Don't get me wrong, though. Many numbers are brilliant (the "legal ventriloquism" number for example), and the show remains extremely entertaining. But ultimately the movie seems to show that the only way you can get the public to swallow a musical is to make it look like an expanded MTV video.
Rating:
Summary: Corruption Set to Music
Review: What a spectacle, the numbers and routines take your breath away. The approach is clever in that the routines are seen through Roxie's dreams, much more acceptable than the old style musical where everyone on the bus starts singing together on cue despite being total strangers. The story underlying the glam and glitter is a satire of celebrity status being available for sale , public servants being corruptable and the legal system being open to manipulation. Some reviewers find this depressing, I agree that it is depressing, depressingly realistic that is. Despite the lack of "Yellow Brick Road" goodness this is a well written, extremely funny movie that is well worth watching. The performances from Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere are superb. Zeta Jones in particular is nothing short of stunning in the "All that Jazz number". If you are looking for the everything is rosy in the garden musical of old this is not it. However if you are prepared to open your mind to a satirical musical, look no further. I think Chicago is worth every award it received and then some.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: My only problem with musicals (or just bad ones) is that the singing is put on at the worst time and makes me distracted from the storyline (even though I think that is the point of it). But in this one, what was so unique is that the musical numbers seemed like a separate movie from the storyline about Roxie's trial. It was more in the thoughts of the characters than them actually just singing out of nowhere. A musical in order to grasp the audience has to be very visual and breathtaking in scope (ex. Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge). Or the storyline has to be tragic and heartbreaking (ex. The West Side Story, Dancer in the Dark). And this movie contains a little of both. The musical numbers are very colorful and the stage is set up in spectacular vision (ex. "They reached for the gun", and "Roxie" bit). And you feel bad at how low the characters go just for attention, and how the public just eats it up (it made the film satirical in nature). I enjoyed it and recommend it to those who are a little put off by singing and dancing in the middle of an engaging story. 4-Stars
Rating:
Summary: Not deserving of Best Picture
Review: A film by Rob Marshall Considering that I saw this movie months after it had won the Oscar for Best Picture, I went into it with somewhat high expectations. On that level, it was something of a disappointment. It was a good movie, but not necessarily a great movie, and certainly not the best picture of all of 2002. Granted, choosing the best picture is an entirely subjective task, but the movie wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. The plotline of the movie has Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) send to jail for murdering her boyfriend in cold blood, all the while trying to pin the murder on her husband Amos (John C Reilly). Roxie wants to be a star; she wants to be on stage. The man she was seeing told her that he had a connection and could get her an audition. He was only trying to get Roxie in bed. Roxie ends up in jail and she sees Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta Jones) is also in prison (for murdering her sister). Velma was a huge star of the stage, and Roxie wanted to be just like her. Fast talking lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) takes Roxie's case (along with that of Velma). Velma and Roxie are also being assisted by the prison warden, Mama Morton (Queen Latifah). Mama Morton can help out Roxie and Velma get in contact with Billy or make a phone call, but for a price. The rest of the movie focuses on Roxie as Billy builds up her celebrity so that she can potentially be acquitted of the charges. There are really two movies here. First, is the real story of Roxie and how she gets to court. The other movie here is the musical. Unlike other musicals where the characters are just walking along and burst into song (and then carry on like nothing happened), the musical numbers in Chicago are fantasy sequences. They are the imaginings of Roxie Hart (mostly) and give a better picture of her feelings than Zellweger's acting does. Some of the musical numbers are just so so, but some are actually memorable (two that Richard Gere does, oddly enough). There is a routine where Roxie feels that she is just Billy's puppet, and this was fantastic and the best one of the show. Billy is in court and basically tap dances around a tricky situation, and we see Billy actually tap dancing. John C Reilly gets one number, and that man can sing! The real star of the show was not Renee Zellweger, but instead was Catherine Zeta Jones. Sure, Zellweger was the lead, but Zeta Jones was the reason the movie was a success. Nobody else commanded your attention like Velma. Anytime she sang or danced, I couldn't look away. Without question, she deserved her Oscar. The movie talks about how celebrity is power. If a celebrity can build up her image, she can literally get away with murder. All they need is the right angle to play and maybe a fast talking lawyer. Think about the parallels today: the biggest is obviously the O.J. Simpson case with Johnny Cochran as the lawyer. But, any big case becomes bigger and more spectacular when the personal on trial has (or gets) a measure of celebrity. Roxie Hart may be the lead character, but there are no heroes. The only truly likable and sympathetic character is Roxie's husband, and he is a pushover. We aren't supposed to relate with Roxie or Velma, but rather to look at how celebrity can corrupt the judicial system. I know that Chicago won Best Picture. I know that it was well regarded, and I'm not saying that it isn't a good movie. It just wasn't a great movie. To put it simply: Chicago did not live up to the hype. All the ingredients were there, but it was a little underwhelming. The only thing I can attribute this to is that Renee Zellweger, while she did a good job, could not command the screen. She is fine in her role, but she is lacking in the power necessary to command attention. Catherine Zeta Jones is an example of an actress commanding the screen. If she was the lead, we might have had a different movie, but Roxie would have been a much stronger character (and thus the movie would have been stronger). It's a good movie, not a great one, and there were better movies in 2002.
Rating:
Summary: Find it downing? Find it depressing? Find it disheartening?
Review: You should. Chicago is a musical that is not a happy sound of music kind of a show. It shows the underbelly of humanity-- how people get trampled, ignored and used all out of humanity. The main character is looking for fame, her lawyer is looking for money, her husband is just looking for love. The only one not to get what they want is the poor husband. When I see this film and musical it makes me re-evaluate what is imporatant. In a way this is a tragedy - with some catchy songs. If you understand what this film is trying to show you about yourself, society and our values you will appreciate it for what it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Hideous
Review: To waste the time, talent and treasure on this film was too bad. Katherine Zeta-Jones is a very talented and stunningly beautiful woman, and she was the highlight of the film. Some other reviewer mentioned that various musicals have had cynical edges but the difference is that these classical musicals had a redeeming thread of morality. Though the characters may have had a lapse or some were just "bad", there was an accord about what was permissable for human beings in society. There are no "good guys" in "Chicago" and no one to root for, no underdog whom you can relate to, no reason not to hang the two ladies. And you don't even care. Add to that the freakish surrealism of the filming style and you have a long and unpleasent viewing experience.
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