All That Jazz

Read my review of "Newsies" if you want my opinion of the musical genre. People just don't break into song-and-dance numbers in the course of their daily lives. Unless they are Bob Fosse, when suddenly doing so not only makes sense, but makes you wonder how we can go through life NOT singing and dancing.

What this movie is, is simple: Bob Fosse unveiling his life, his knowledge, and a detailed explanation of his creative process, for future generations to evolve. This film is part biography, part self-exploration, and part legacy. It is the "legacy" part that is overlooked by almost everyone. If you ever dreamed of becoming a choreographer, this is the ideal place to start, because you'll watch, over and over, as Joe Gideon (Roy Schieder as the fictionalized Fosse) puts his stamp on a dance number, a process so unique and brilliant that it could easily be classified as its own form of dance rather than a subset of modern dance. If three words could sum up Fosse's style of choreography it would be "make it sexier." Then make it even sexier. Then, when you're done, you need to make it even sexier. The "Airotica" number exemplifies this, and served as the inspiration for Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" video.

The movie brings Fosse's inner circle and personal life to the screen, pulling absolutely no punches. Some call this film a form of narcissism, but it's hard to see how a man looking for self-given glory would portray himself falling apart physically and personally, the years obviously having taken a toll, as well as the emotional baggage that comes with abandoning family life (and a brilliantly played daughter by Erzsebet Foldi, in what would be her only film before she retired) for a girlfriend with some side dishes for variety. The women hate Gideon's infidelity, but love the man so dearly they know not to question or challenge it.

Throughout the film, we are treated to vignettes that comprise the mosaic that is the life of Fosse. Metaphors abound, and the music blends effortlessly into a film that can make two hours seem like two minutes. This is not a film that could have been written and will not be enjoyed by those of simple intellects. So much of the plot exists in the abstract, and it is up to the viewer to find what is often an incredibly subtle symbolism. Simply put, this is a well-constructed film. Fosse's ex-wife and dance protégé, Ann Reinking, auditioned for (!) and won the part based on her, while the supporting cast includes many solid names, even a young John Lithgow as Lucas. Fosse's daughter makes a cameo in the film, as does the film editor. The comedian who appears as the subject of a movie is based on Lenny, a previous Fosse film.

Joe Gideon is what everyone should be no matter what they do: someone who doesn't copy others, but develops their own vision and then methodically, sometimes maniacally, makes it happen. He lives in the moment, and squeezes everything he can out of each moment. This is evidenced by Gideon's brilliant work, but also by his rapidly deteriorating health caused by living in the party moments as well as the serious ones.

The ending number is for the ages, putting a spin on the sappy endings that musicals are famous for.

Your life is lacking until you have seen this film. That it did not win the Best Picture Oscar for its year was an absolute tragedy. It is one of the five best films of all time.

Bob Fosse's autobiographical look at the hectic life of a Broadway director/choreographer rehearsing a new show in New York City while concurrently editing his latest movie. Roy Scheider fabulously stands in for Fosse; as Joe Gideon, pill-popping, womanizing, self-destructive genius on the verge of collapse, it is Scheider's shining moment as an actor. Fosse paints himself as suspicious, paranoid, driven, indifferent, exhausted and horny. It's more than most of us want to know about the man, who seems intent on showing us what a creep he is...but a talented creep! The film doesn't particularly look good (it's a gray movie), though it has amazing musical flourishes and the self-styled bombast is actually rather amusing once you get the idea. Jessica Lange is beautiful in an early role as the Angel of Death (imagine Fosse explaining that role to her!), and Scheider's performance is really something to see (only occasionally does the camera catch him not knowing what to do). Fosse tries hard not to be pretentious, he keeps things playful and perky, and his ironic ending is bitterly funny. The film is alive and ticking--but that's not Fosse's heart, it's a time bomb. *** from ****

To think that Fosse synthesized musical theater, artistic obsession, relationships, fatherhood, and satire all within the framework of a deconstructionist film musical and made it all about himself to boot (including predicting the manner of his own death) without being the least bit self-congratulatory is amazing. The film is edited beautifully; choreographed flawlessly; lit with stark colors that almost fade to black and white at times; and acted with heart and verve, especially by Roy Scheider. The film has one of the most effective uses of the zoom lens (despised by most filmmakers precisely for their inability to figure out when to use it) in film history. The shot pulls back from a lone choreographer on the stage while multitudes of bodies go flying by him, letting us feel his insurmountable task of choosing which of these people will make his show come alive. Some may say the final series of musical numbers runs long but I defy anyone these days to sustain a musical film with the same success. "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago", excellent films that they are, play their cards fast and furious, hoping to razzle-dazzle us just long enough that we'll stay tuned. "All That Jazz" dares to show you a taste of musicals to come ("Take Off With Us") and yet insists you remember where the form came from (the Busby Berkely-esque "Who's Sorry Now?"). When will they come out with the DVD? We can only hope soon.

Fosse's ALL THAT JAZZ has been mistaken for a rip-off of Fellini's 8 1/2 for some time. But that is giving it short shrift as an illuminating, sobering account of one man's burnout in the face of enormous pressure from the elements of the entertainment industry which he's involved himself in, namely Broadway and the film industry. Based on Fosse's experiences directing CHICAGO on Broadway and LENNY for United Artists, it stars Roy Scheider as Fosse's always black-dressed alter ego Joe Gideon, who's long road to success has been dotted with drug addictions, one-night stands, betrayals, and show biz phoniness.

Particularly of interest in this film is the strong autobiographical quality of it. Fosse did, indeed, suffer his first heart attack during this 1973/74 period of his life. The film-within-the-film, "The Stand Up," is an interesting variation on LENNY (1974, with Dustin Hoffman and Valerie Perrine)---much more irritating than that movie. LENNY ended up getting great reviews, for the most part, but it must have been a tough movie for Fosse to get his hands around, especially while dealing with his failed marriage to Broadway star Gwen Verdon (portrayed here by Leland Palmer). It's certainly portrayed as such in this film. And Chicago seems to have been a challenge for him, too. He obviously thought the original script for that show was lacking (as he actually went on record as saying) and that he had to spice it up for him to become interested in it. (How fascinating would a Fosse film version of CHICAGO have been? As it was, it looks as if eventual CHICAGO director Rob Marshall screened ALL THAT JAZZ many times in order to mine its many storytelling treasures, including the main conceit that most of the film's musical numbers appear in the minds of the main characters.)

Scheider has never been better and deserved real consideration as that year's Best Actor Oscar-winner (he lost, ironically, to Dustin Hoffman who won for KRAMER VS. KRAMER). He is positively channeling his director's personality, down to his constant cigarette smoking and his artsy goatee (not to mention his snaky, rakish attitudes towards personality responsibility). The fine cast also includes: John Lithgow as a rival Broadway director who may or may not take over Joe's show if he dies on the operating table; Max Wright (the dad on ALF) as the producer of Gideon's film; Sandahl Bergman (from CONAN and RED SONJA) as the lead dancer in the "Take Off With Us" musical number that disappoints the stage show's backers; longtime Fosse girlfriend and dancer Ann Reinking as Gideon's other serious bedmate; Cliff Gorman as Davis Newman, the lead actor in "The Stand Up"; the lovely Erezebet Foldi as Gideon's precocious daughter (Fosse's real daughter, Nicole, later appeared in the film version of A CHORUS LINE); Jessica Lange in her first serious role as the Angel of Death; Keith Gordon (an actor in CHRISTINE and BACK TO SCHOOL, who's now an acclaimed director of films like MOTHER NIGHT and the 2003 film adaptation of THE SINGING DETECTIVE) as the young Joe Gideon; Ben Vereen, energetic as a show-biz veteran who "hosts" Gideon's final decent into death. The list goes on and on....

And the tech credits are superb. The film won Oscars for its Tony Walton sets (Tony Walton has been married to Julie Andrews for years, and is an acclaimed stage and film set designer), its Alan Heim editing (Heim worked on NETWORK, among other things), its Ralph Burns scoring (which includes old jazz, classical, pop, and Broadway standards), and its Albert Wolsky costumes. Its photography, by Giuseppe Rotunno, is also great (Rotunno phtographed many Fellini films and probably had much to do with the lumping of Fosse's film in with Fellini's work).

Tying in 1979 with APOCOLYPSE NOW for Cannes Palme D'Or, this is one of the greatest movies ever made, I think, and you'll know that once the first moments--a mass stage audition unbelievably well-edited to the tune of George Benson's version of "On Broadway"--unreel in front of you. It's an unflinching look into the madness of one artist that, eventually, became his undoing (Fosse died in 1986, in his early 60s, of another heart attack, after completing only one more movie, STAR 80, and one more stage show, BIG DEAL). See it and prepare to be moved in strange ways.

Artistic people probably do not understand how creatively-lacking people function in their day to day lives. Uncreative people judge artists are pretentious, ridiculous, and unrealistic because of their own lack in understanding of an artistic mind. Ignorance no longer need be a problem, not once you see All That Jazz. I've never seen an artist's thinking, inspiration, and life depicted better in a more flashy, colorful, and wild film.The protagonist, Joe Gideon is for the first two thirds of the film, practically never captured on screen without a cigarette on his lips. Watching All That Jazz is like stealing the cigarette from his mouth and inhaling his artistic expression.

The most obvious aspect of All That Jazz that is successful is the manner in which its technically made. Bob Fosse is the director here and each scene is directed with such precision, you can feel the real-life, artistic pain melt off the screen. In a film that centers itself around dancing, the choreography is feisty, swift, and collectible complex and inventive. The sets and costumes are dazzling and prove the film cares about it's look just as much it does entertaining us and even more so than both of those, it makes a priority of saying something about artists. The film editing is used as a poem of madness and completely works for All That Jazz.

The grounding strength of All That Jazz is Roy Scheider being front and center breathing life and artistic "smoke" into the film. Never a moment where he takes things too far, everything is held back like a man who has bit off more than he could chew would hold things back. Scheider is perfectly astute and the film wouldn't be the same without his understanding of the character and story. All That Jazz is centered around a flawed man with a drug addiction, uncontrollable sexual desires, stress levels that go through the roof, and personal relationships that have more bumps than they are smooth. Yet, we understand this man's life and work because of Scheider.

All That Jazz is bright, flashy, and seeking attention to this business and lifestyle. Artistic people are misunderstood by people as some sort of hippie that tries to sway away from "the norm" any chance they get. No, they understand themselves and feel they have something to share with the world. They see the world differently than "normal" people do. They have a firmer grasp on what things mean to them. It almost feels like a style of film Fellini would be directing. All That Jazz is in tune with the the work, the stress, and the real-life hardships that come as a package deal in the entertainment industry. The film is like shining bright lights on big distress.

Through this wild, raunchy film, Fosse makes a commentary on an artist's experience understandable to the common man in a very entertaining way. All That Jazz reinvents the word style, flashing new visuals, songs, and choreography at us every minute. Filled with art, dance, and personal expression, All That Jazz will suffocate you with its fantastically told metaphor of an artist's life.