All That Jazz (1979)
An intense and admired Broadway musical director (played by Roy Scheider) faces death in a huge metaphor layered with dance productions and egomania. Sounds good, and with all the dazzle, it should never get slow, but by some miracle it does. Even the grand final number goes south, getting repetitive as the camera swoops, the films cuts, the dancers writhe, the lights glare.
But it sure is visually exciting, and there are some great dances and some great sets, improvised and elaborate both. And Scheider is convincing as an unattractive, drug enhanced, chain smoking middle aged man.
The plot whirls with growing inevitability, and the quasi-surreal heaven scenes with Jessica Lange are stiff and "stagey" which might be on purpose (it's like Broadway heaven, maybe). What you really have is a patchwork of dance numbers, some hugely talented dancers, and a selfish lead male lacking charm. It's a tough watch if you aren't predisposed to Broadway musicals. The best relationship, between the director and his little daughter, is quite touching in parts, but oddly this is abandoned by the end, and we are left only with mania and ego, in that order.
An intense and admired Broadway musical director (played by Roy Scheider) faces death in a huge metaphor layered with dance productions and egomania. Sounds good, and with all the dazzle, it should never get slow, but by some miracle it does. Even the grand final number goes south, getting repetitive as the camera swoops, the films cuts, the dancers writhe, the lights glare.
But it sure is visually exciting, and there are some great dances and some great sets, improvised and elaborate both. And Scheider is convincing as an unattractive, drug enhanced, chain smoking middle aged man.
The plot whirls with growing inevitability, and the quasi-surreal heaven scenes with Jessica Lange are stiff and "stagey" which might be on purpose (it's like Broadway heaven, maybe). What you really have is a patchwork of dance numbers, some hugely talented dancers, and a selfish lead male lacking charm. It's a tough watch if you aren't predisposed to Broadway musicals. The best relationship, between the director and his little daughter, is quite touching in parts, but oddly this is abandoned by the end, and we are left only with mania and ego, in that order.