As I watched this film it dawned on me that Bob Fosse probably made this film as part of exorcising his own demons. Story is for the most part about Bob Fosse but he calls himself Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) and the film starts with the auditions for "Chicago" and during this he is also editing a feature film about a stand-up comic so we see that he is a workaholic. He also chain smokes, sleeps with various women and neglects his daughter Michelle (Erzsebet Foldi). Everything around him is causing tremendous stress to his already fatigued body and in his imagination he flirts with an angel of death named Angelique (Jessica Lange). Gideon's condition gets worse and he checks himself out at the hospital and he learns that he has two clogged arteries and needs heart surgery. The backers for the broadway show must now decide if they should delay the opening or replace Gideon as the director. The film shows Gideon reflecting back on his life and the decisions he has made and how he feels about his own fate. Fosse cast Roy Scheider as Gideon and Scheider pulls it off pretty well. I'm not sure if he did his own singing or not but Scheider does possess a lean athletic body that was needed to make us believe he's a dancer. You have to give him credit for doing such a remarkable job in a role that most would not have cast him in. *****SPOILER ALERT***** I found it interesting that Fosse had the character Gideon die at the end of the film but I think Fosse was trying to make amends with his own past. Its as if Fosse used this film as a way of changing and letting everyone know that he's a changed man. The old Fosse is dead and the new Fosse has moved forward. Lange was reportedly dating Fosse at this point and thats why she was cast in the film but it turned out to be an important role for her. She garnered good reviews and it helped some people forget the wretched "King Kong" debacle. Some familiar faces show up in this film like Max Wright, Michael Tolan, Keith Gordon, John Lithgow, Sandahl Bergman, CCH Pounder, Vicky Frederick and Wallace Shawn. Film is self indulgent but so was Fosse. He was an artist and his whole life was in the theater so one would expect this autobiographical view of him to be a little over the top. I never found it dull and I think its a fascinating look at a very talented and unique person.
Review of All That Jazz
