All That Jazz

20th Century Fox, 1979
Starring Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, Ann Renking
Directed by Bob Fosse
Music and Lyrics by various

Fosse was riding high through most of the 70's, becoming the first person to win a best director Oscar (for Cabaret), Emmy (for the special Liza With a Z), and Tony (for directing and choreographing Pippin) in one year, but all that activity took its toll. This movie is Fosse's version of that tumultuous time in his life, when he was directing Chicago while trying to edit the film Lenny. Let's head to New York to meet Fosse's avatar Joe Gideon (Scheider) and find out just how bad things got...

The Story: Gideon is not the most pleasant guy. He's trying to edit his new movie The Stand Up about a stage comedian (Cliff Gorman) and choreograph and direct the big Broadway show NY/LA, but it's all starting to get to him. He takes pills, drinks and smokes too much, chases women, and neglects them when he gets them. His wife Audrey (Palmer) is playing a role in NY/LA that she's way too old for and wishes he'd slow down for five minutes. His daughter Michelle (Erzebet Foldi) wants him to settle down and marry someone, anyone. His current girl Kate (Reniking) is fed up with his workaholic tendencies and is ready to leave him. The producers of his movie are threatening to take it out of his hands if he doesn't deliver it on time.

With all this, it's probably no surprise to anyone but Joe when he finally has a massive heart attack while doing a read-through of his show with his producers. Even after he's diagnosed with severe chest pain, he still continues to drink, smoke, and chase the ladies. He's literally flirting with death, represented as a beautiful lady in white (Lange). A bad review of his film sends him into cardiac arrest, requiring open heart surgery...and prompting a final dream of a musical number representing all the people and events of his life.

The Song and Dance: Whew, this is a weird one. Even when the story is at its strangest, it's anchored by some stellar performances. Scheider is the stand-out as Gideon, the man determined to cheat death and use everyone he can, including the devoted women in his life. Foldi, Reniking, and Palmer are excellent as his muses, who care about him despite his multitude of faults. The massive "Bye Bye Life" finale is as lavish, glittery, and overstuffed as one could wish; the costumes and sets won an Oscar (as did the score and editing).

Favorite Number: Reniking and Foldi delight Scheider - and the audience - with their peppy, upbeat dance routine to Peter Allen's "Everything Old Is New Again." The choreography is fast and fun, the girls are having a blast, and he clearly appreciates it. "Take Off With Us (Airerotica)" takes off more than a plane with the sexy, mostly-nude routine to one of two news songs written directly for the film. As one producer said, it's not for the family audiences, but there's some awesome dancing and the song is fun.

Probably the best-known aspect of this today is the huge finale. Ben Vereen, as a smarmy talk show host, introduces a series of songs representing different facets of Gideon's life. My favorite is the feathers-and-fans "Who's Sorry Now?," as well as the faster-paced opening "After You've Gone."

What I Don't Like: This is definitely not a musical for children, for anyone expecting a more typically romantic or upbeat story, or for those who aren't into Fosse's dark style. It's also not a story about terribly pleasant people. Joe Gideon is, quite frankly, a jerk, and a lot of the folks around him aren't much better. There's also the footage of actual open heart surgery juxtaposed against the musical numbers in the finale. And yeah, the musical number is overproduced, over done, and just too strange for words.

The Big Finale: This is not a movie for everyone, but if you love Fosse or are interested in trying a different and darker story, you'll want to give this one a look.

Home Media: The Criterion Collection DVD and Blu-Ray are absolutely worth the money, with a wealth of extras and stunning picture and audio.

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