Movie Review--Chicago

Who knew Richard Gere could sing, or dance, or act!?

Although Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones got all the accolades for this movie musical, Richard Gere deserved some kind of an award for his tap-dance routine during the trial scenes.

Last night, after the amazing 2-hour season finale of "Lost," I flipped on Starz! and caught "Chicago." Now, I don't generally like modern musicals because they don't seem to fit in this time period (for instance, "Moulin Rouge": I'm still wondering what all the fuss was about). The movie is about Roxie Hart, a chorus singer/dancer who kills her lover. (I missed the first fifteen minutes so I'm not sure if she killed him because he was attacking her or accidentally. I think she was attacked.) She tries to have her husband take the rap, but he realizes she was cheating on him, and so she goes to jail instead. Once inside the clink, Roxie meets other notorious female killers like double-murderer Velma Kelly, also a chanteuse, who protest their innocence. With the help of Momma (Queen Latifah), the prison matron, Velma has kept her name in the papers, partly to help her case, and partly for her own need to be famous.

Roxie eventually steals Velma's spotlight and lawyer Billy Flynn (Gere). She gets her day in court, but balks at the things Flynn wants her to do. But then she sees one of the female killers go to the gallows after exhausting all appeals, and she quickly agrees to appearing demure in court.

I can't say I really liked this movie. It was like watching a train wreck. What sexy costumes would the characters appear in next? How many times would we see the women's garters? Perhaps if I had seen "Chicago" in a stage production, I would feel differently. See it if you like musicals or sexy women.