In 1920s Chicago, the Cook County Jail is the breeding grounds for on-stage stardom and the local defense attorney is the hottest talent agent. Bored housewives dreaming of fame kill their husbands for a chance to rule the headlines and hearts of Chicagoans. The competition for the limelight is as furious as anyone might expect of a Hollywood audition. When a high-profile lover's quarrel results in death on a weekly basis, the ladies of murderess row must exercise ingenuity and acting ability of their own to remain in the newspapers and win their cases.
While this critic suspects from her role in \Jerry Maguire"" and her Oscar-nominated turn in ""Bridget Jones's Diary,"" that Renee Zellweger's acting talent is largely a figment of her imagination, ""Chicago"" takes a look into the imagination of Roxie Hart (Zellweger) and there is, in fact, something there. Where Zellweger previously failed to enchant as a series of admittedly dowdy women, she displays real charm and flair in this role. She embodies the lifestyle Roxie dreams of living out, both in her imagination and the headlines of the Chicago dailies after shooting her lover in the manner of her idol Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones).
As Roxie's attorney Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) schools her in the ways of fame, Zellweger unfurls a charismatic performance, from her first song, ""Funny Honey"" to ""Roxie,"" which epitomizes the height of Roxie's fame and provides Zellweger with a kind of sexuality heretofore unknown.
The device of staging songs in the character's imaginations, particularly in Roxie's case, offers depth to the characters by contrast to the stark reality of their circumstances. Speaking of depth, John C. Reilly playing Roxie's husband, Amos, displays it in abundance. Whether duty or love motivates Amos is unclear, but his decidedly not starstruck naivete is particularly touching when Reilly mourns it in his main song, ""Mr. Cellophane."" While the presence of Amos brings a little perspective during his moments onscreen, it is a credit to the picture as a whole that, endearing as Amos is, he is forgotten as the audience is swept up in Roxie's pursuit of fame at anyone's expense but her own.
""Chicago"" draws inevitable comparisons with last year's ""Moulin Rouge"" which revived the critical and commercial prospects for musical adaptations, but where Rouge"" was a love-it-or-hate-it affair (this critic loved it), ""Chicago"" matches the glamour of the visual sensation frame for frame and provides a more entertaining storyline to boot.
While ""Rouge's"" rooftop settings were over the top and contributed to the ethereality of its love story, ""Chicago"" wallows in the dark, intimate nightclub and prison settings dimly lit by neon signs. And while ""Moulin Rouge"" provided a stage for Oscar-nominated acting, the cast of ""Chicago"" creates a movie better than any individual.
--Danielle Szulczewski
