Chicago: The Windy Movie

March 24th, 2003 | jchaager | Entertainment

Instead of sitting on the couch last night watching the Oscars, my wife and I went out to dinner and a movie. My wife had been wanting to see Chicago, so we arrived at the theater, paid our $16, and sat down to enjoy this highly acclaimed movie.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding Chicago. It earned 13 Oscar nominations. Reading and listening to all the reviews, this movie was the best thing to happen to multiplexes this year. But, as mother always said, don’t believe everything you read. As the lights dimmed and the movie began, we were treated to the spectacle of the opening dance sequence. This quick leads into the setup of the plot and the introduction of the two lead characters, Velma and Roxie. Each ends up on “Murder’s Row”, Velma for killing her husband and sister, and Roxie for killing her lover. At this point, the movie bogs down and spends an inordinate amount of time introducing other inmates, giving each of them a chance to tell their story in song and dance; a song which goes on for way to long.

Barely an hour into the movie I was checking my watch trying to see how much longer I had to endure. If I had been at home, I would have started flipping channels, searching for something else to watch.

This movie is all about dancing and singing. If you’re into musicals, then this movie is for you. But for me, this movie started to bore me very quickly. For the middle third of the movie, the story drags us slowly through the transformation of Roxie from nobody to media darling by her slick lawyer.

It isn’t until the final third, when the trial starts, that the movie picks up steam again. The intermixing of reality with the musical numbers in the courtroom scenes were great and made the trial much more entertaining than it might otherwise have been.

Overall, the movie was pretty good, but the slow middle section was putting me to sleep. I give Chicago 3 out 5 stars–something to watch on video or at a Matinee showing, but it definitely wasn’t worth the $16 we paid to see it.