I'm a theater buff, and I've seen the stage show Chicago twice in New York -- once with Bebe Neuwirth in the title role and once with Marilou Henner. Both actresses were terrific, but I honestly believe the movie is better than the stage version, and Zellweger and Zeta-Jones are phenomenal. Richard Gere, too, was a wonderful surprise. Contrary to what one reviewer said, I found his voice to be perfect for this role. Billy is not supposed to be a fabulous performer. He's a con man, he tap dances around the truth, everything is flash. So Gere's NY nasal singing voice is perfect for this character. Ditto with Zellweger. One reviewer complained about how thin her voice is. Hey, Roxie is a wannabe, not a star. Zeta-Jones is the star who is supposed to be fabulous (and she is). Roxie is the pretender. So Zellweger's less-than-perfect voice is perfect for the role.I wish there were more than five stars to award this movie. I'd give it a TEN!
Rating: 
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: The negative reviews below are mind-boggling. I've now seen "Chicago" 4 times and each time I watch it I am still blown away. I can't wait to watch it again. Being a fan of the Broadway show, I was very skeptical when I first learned of the casting. However, the two female leads do a phenomenal job, especially Catherine Zeta-Jones. The singing, dancing, choreography and acting are all fantastic. If you're not a fan of big production numbers, then "Chicago" isn't for you. But if you enjoy musicals, especially stage based, then "Chicago" is sure to please.
Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding???
Review: For those who have expressed here that CHICAGO was trash, undeserving of its Academy Awards, etc., I'm admitting confusion about your remarks. I saw MOULIN ROUGE. For the record, I do like Nicole Kidman, but found MOULIN ROUGE worse than almost any other modern day (post-60s.) film/musical made. For those who thought that CHICAGO was cynical, dark, unfunny, etc. Have you never seen a Bob Fosse production, including the biographical ALL THAT JAZZ (in which CHICAGO is a focus)? You can tell a Bob Fosse musical by certain trademarks...Compare CHICAGO to CABARET. The two are similar in tone, era, fashion and yes, cynicism--and they're both Fosse creations in terms of choreography and such. CHICAGO isn't even in the same class with MOULIN ROUGE, which was in my humble opinion, boring and annoying (and ruined a few classic songs like Elton John's "Your Song.") Because I'm married to an Academy Awards buff, and am a former film critic for a newspaper, I decided to watch MOULIN ROUGE. To me it was a waste of time, talent and yet another remake/reworking of CAMILLE (this version completely overblown.) Kidman has been in much better films than MOULIN ROUGE. As for Zellweger, I'm not a big fan of hers either, and she and Richard Gere are probably the weakest links in CHICAGO in terms of their musical abilities (despite Gere having been in a stage production of GREASE years ago,) but I think it sort of colors one's judgement when you go into a movie already hating an actor in a starring role as one reviewer wrote. You've already pre-judged the whole movie. I'm not a fan of musicals overall, but I'll give many of them a try. I also tend to not watch movies starring actors I don't particularly like (especially since I left my work as a film critic years ago and can avoid watching actors I don't like.) I really liked CHICAGO and was happy it won Best Picture. Bob Fosse hopefully is smiling in the Afterlife.
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood Ending Ruins It!
Review: I never saw the musical, but the plot sets the audience for a complex morality tale. The setting is one of total corruption- The main character Roxie gets away with murder- but the Commentary and the plot itself hints that the showbiz Roxie so desperately craves is not what she expected. She is doomed to a short career, sharing a stage with a woman she hates, in front of a fickle audience. The end should make one queasy that we give the media spotlight to such evil conniving monsters (and their lawyers!) Unfortunately the last number is so flashy, and Zellweger and Zeta-Jones such enthusiastic performers, that one is left with a moral vacuum. The one decent character is just abandoned, slack-jawed, and so is the audience. Perhaps Hollywood is just too corrupt to portray this story properly.- Perhaps Rob Marshall should have renamed and reset the movie in present day Hollywood- morally bankrupt Hollywood.
Rating: 
Summary: Gratuitous and self-serving
Review: Yes, musicals are really about the music and dancing, and less about the story. Unfortunately, this one seems like the actors were having coffee one day, and all said "hey, wouldn't it be fun to be in a musical so we could all sing and dance??". I can't for the life of me understand why or how this piece of "art" got any awards, or any repeat views. I like musicals, but not this one.
Rating:
Summary: Stylish - Exciting - Mesmerizing!
Review: This movie musical has all the right elements to make it a timeless treasure to be viewed over and over again. It's a great tongue in cheek look at Gangsters, Crime, Jazz, and Liquor prohibition of the Roaring 20's and how America and our Justice System dealt with these "Evils".
Every cast member gives 150% of talent, sweat and bravado - The entire movie is filled with high spirited and entertaining song and dance numbers. There are no dull spots to muddle through between musical numbers, just witty dialogue to keep the plot moving.
This is a great film to have on DVD - a real treasure!
Two of my favorite musical numbers are The Cell Block Tango and the Ventriloquist Scene.
TWO THUMBS UP!!!
Rating: 
Summary: The Glitter & Verve of Broadway Comes to the Silver Screen
Review: The 1920's in Chicago. The city is rife with illegal booze, jazz clubs, and corruption. Roxie (Renee Zellweger) is a chorus girl who dreams of being a star. One day she shoots her lover in a rage at his betrayal. In prison she meets Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who was Chicago's most celebrated showgirl until she shot and killed two people. Velma has retained the city's most successful defense lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), who never fails to produce acquittals for women indicted for murder. Roxy also seeks Flynn's representation and quickly becomes his star client. The two women compete for headlines, trial dates, public sympathy, and all the stardom that their crimes can get them, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of each other and of the public's taste for the latest spilt blood.
Director Rob Marshall and screenwriter Bill Condon have successfully adapted Bob Fosse's popular musical "Chicago" for the screen. The production is spectacular. The "stagey" musical numbers and more conventional dramatic scenes are well integrated. Dion Beebe's cinematography is creative and impressive. My only criticism of the film is that some of the more circus-like musical numbers struck me as overproduced and over-stimulating. Many modern stage musicals become ensnared in the trap of overproduction, which can do more to distance the viewers from the musical numbers than to draw the audience into them. Some of that seems to have carried over into "Chicago"'s movie version. But the performances are good. Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere cope admirably with the challenge of singing and dancing in a musical. Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a standout performance. She unabashedly plays her character over-the-top, belts out every song with great conviction, and really sells her performance. Another impressive performance comes from Queen Latifah, who plays the women's prison warden, Mama. She also holds nothing back, and it doesn't hurt that she is a singer by profession. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah both have considerable stage experience, as well as being blessed with screen presence, which might explain their ability to bring great energy and a larger-than-life quality to this film version of a Broadway musical. If you're a fan of musicals, Chicago is a must-see. If you're not...well, musicals aren't everyone's cup of tea. But I think there is enough entertainment in "Chicago" to please most movie goers.
Rating:
Summary: Chicago is outstanding
Review: I saw the movie, I saw the play, and I bought the movie. Renée is spectacular. Queen Latifah was better than the actress I saw in Broadway. Richard Gere was magnificent. The movie is almost exactly as the show in Broadway. If I had to choose between Moulin Rouge and Chicago (since I read the comment comparing it to Moulin Rouge,) I would have to declare a tie. I am so happy that the draught for musicals is over. I have been a big fan of musicals since I can remember. I hope that more producers take the risk to bring more musicals to the big screen. Not everyone has the chance to go to NY often, and see a Broadway show, but Hollywood can make it possible bringing that Broadway show to the big screen.
Rating:
Summary: Is The Musical Back?
Review: Chicago is a movie that you just cannot help but love. It has an all star cast, a great musical score, and a plot that is so far-fetched, it is nothing but a good time. Though the action of the film revolves around a group of women who kill their significant others, a publicity hungry lawyer, and a less than noble women's prison warden-hardly the best society has to offer-it does not attempt to be anything but fun. The film is glitzy, colorful, and fast paced. The DVD has a bonus track of a number omitted from the film which is fun to watch, though omitting it from the film was probably a wise choice, and behind the scenes shots which is a plus fo0r any movie buff.
Many reviewers of the film wondered if Chicago's success is the beginning of a new era of Hollywood musicals. This is hard to say. If we look at some of the great musicals of yesteryear, particularly the great MGM musicals and Twentieth Century Fox's versions of the Rogers and Hammerstein greats, and consider that studios were able to take implausible plots, set then to music, add an all star cast, put money behind the project, trusting the talent of all involved and the movie going public to support such projects, and have great success, then perhaps Chicago is the beginning of a new era. We will have to wait and see.
