Ever since I was young, I was fascinated by movie musicals. Absolutely blown away by them. I remember watching the original West Side Story from the 1960s with my dad, and then moving onto other movie musicals as I got older. I fell in love with the world of Mamma Mia!, bopped my head to the sounds of Hairspray, and fell in love with musicals all over again when I watched Hamilton and In the Heights from Lin-Manuel Miranda. Truly, movie musicals have been such a huge part of my life.
But there's one musical that stands out amongst the rest and helped to cement my love for musicals, and that, my friends, is Chicago. This film, based on the stage musical of the same name, tells the story of two murderers in the 1920s who are awaiting trial in jail, and have big dreams of becoming stars on the outside. Chicago was a huge stepping stone into my love of musicals.
And now, twenty years later, I’ve rewatched it for the millionth time and have plenty of thoughts – ones I need to share and have everyone else see so they can watch the movie as well.
Catherine Zeta-Jones Is Always Spectacular
Look, the whole entire cast of Chicago is phenomenal. Like seriously, Renée Zellweger is fantastic, Richard Gere gives a top-billing performance and John C. Reilly is great in his role as Amos. But the one person that stands out amongst the rest is Catherine Zeta-Jones. She is just spectacular.
While Zeta-Jones has done plenty with her time in Hollywood over the years, from appearing in big-time movies to popping up the Wednesday cast of even the cast of National Treasure: Edge of History, she’s just so good in this movie. From the first notes that you hear her sing, “All That Jazz,” you know she is going to be outstanding.
There’s a reason why she ended up winning an Academy Award for her performance in the movie. And all these years later, I still think it is well-deserved. There is not a single role that she has done that has blown me away quite as much as Chicago. It’s just the standard for amazing musical movie performances.
These Set Pieces Are Phenomenal
Something I also love from this movie is that it really feels like you’re transported back to the 1920s. Sometimes with older movies, you can clearly tell when something was filmed on a set, or if it clearly used a green screen, but with Chicago, it feels like I’m back in the 1920s.
But something else I also really noticed about this movie is that while it does take the time to properly establish the scene and make sure the setting is just right so people feel like they’re in the 1920s, it’s also not afraid to dive into classic stage sets as well. The whole entire set of “Cell Block Tango” felt like it was ripped directly from the stage production and it was done so well where I found myself looking up the original performance vs. the movie performance.
God, This Music Is Outstanding
I’ve talked about this before, but I come from a musical family, so it’s really hard to impress me with most musicals without it sounding like most other musicals. I think that’s why I like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musicals so much, or anything that really pushes the boundaries of what musicals can do – because they’re unlike any other.
But what I like the most about Chicago is that while it does feel like a pretty standard musical, its tone-shifts are really what makes it so good. I could go from loving this musical and dancing on my feet in “Cell Block Tango” to crying my eyes out listening to “Nowadays” to back on my feet again in the next song. The musical does such a good job of keeping the audience engaged and it’s mainly through its upbeat music.
Cell Block Tango Is The Ultimate Revenge Anthem
Speaking of music, it’s probably pretty clear that I love “Cell Block Tango.” It’s my favorite song throughout this whole entire musical, both the stage production and the movie version. It’s staged perfectly, melds together well, and features some outstanding voices that truly have blown me away every single time I listen to it.
But what I really like about this song is that it tells so many different stories in the timespan of seven minutes, all unique from the other, featuring reasons as to why these women killed their husbands. It’s such a creative way of exposing people’s backstory. It also is a fun game for you to pick out which one of the women you relate to the most.
I mean, how can you listen to “He had it coming, he had it coming, he had it coming all along,” and not sing to it? It’s impossible.
Queen Latifah’s Performance Is So Underrated
As I said before, the cast of Chicago is one that I really do love to watch, but there’s one performance that I feel rarely gets talked about, and that’s Queen Latifah. Like, seriously. Why don't more people talk about her role in this movie? It’s so underrated.
While Queen Latifah was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, she went up against Zeta-Jones, so it was going to be stiff competition. But now, I’m going to give her the praise she deserves because damn does she give a show in this movie. Her song, “When You’re Good To Mama,” is a certified banger and one that I love hearing her sing, but her overall acting role was just great overall.
I always think of Queen Latifah as this hilarious comedian who has been in so many funny movies and really fueled my childhood, but she really is outstanding in this dramatic role, and it makes me want to see her in way more roles just like this in the future. She’s seriously such a great musician-turned-actress.
Velma And Roxie’s Rivalry Is Honestly So Entertaining The Watch
You know, usually I’m not one for a rivalry storyline, but in Chicago, I can’t help but love it, and I think the reason that I do love it so much is that it really isn’t afraid to lean into the fact that these two women aren’t the best. They’re deceitful, self-centered, and selfish, and yet, you can’t help but root for them in their own ways due to what they have gone through and their ambition to achieve greatness.
It’s a great rivalry story, where you don’t know exactly who to support more because both have their reasons as to becoming a star after their crimes. But what really makes it such a great story is that in the end, despite their mutual dislike for each other, they realize that working together is a better idea than they ever were apart. It’s the definition of someone saying “you just need a little help sometimes."
Chicago is a film that I still can’t believe is twenty years old, and yet, I still feel the same amount of joy for it as I did watching it the first time. And if you’ve never seen it before, be sure to check it out.
