All That Jazz

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All That Jazz

86% Liked It
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All That Jazz

Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, Cliff Gorman, Ben Vereen, Erzsebet Foldi, Michael Tolan, Max Wright, William LeMassena, Irene Kane, Deborah Geffner, Anthony Holland, John Lithgow

Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid life of Joe Gideon. Joe Gideon is a hedonistoc workaholic who knocks back a daily dose of amphetamines to juggle a n...( read more  read more... )ew Broadway production while editing his new movie, not to mention ex-wife Audrey, steady girlfriend Kate, a young daughter, and various conquests. Joe cannot, however, avoid intimations of mortality from white-clad vision Angelique that lead him to look back at his life as he heads for a near-inevitable coronary.

Id: 6902246

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All That Jazz Recent Reviews
  • sanjurosamurai
    September 18, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    although held back by an unothodox style and pacing of the music, the film excelled in enough areas so as to not only balance it out but to overcome the flaws to make for a very good movie. the commentary on death in the final act was obviously the strength and scheider gave a g...( read more)reat performance.
  • bradwest
    October 31, 2008
    bradwest
    There are way too many days I totally relate to Scheider's character. Especially in the morning.
  • middleeasternfilms
    April 20, 2008
    middleeasternfilms
    After years of battling drugs dealers, murderers and sharks, Roy Scheider really shines in this dark musical based on the life of Bob Fosse, who was previously involved in Cabaret, Chicago and Damn Yankees. The ending of this movie (with Ben Vereen) is one of favorite endings.
  • mjgildea
    April 1, 2008
    mjgildea
    I kind of had a 3-star attitude about All That Jazz throughout most of the movie. I don't like musicals but seeing as how this one was darker and more character-driven I was able to get past my own bias. Roy Scheider was great and Ann Reinking was cute as all hell. Once the inevi...( read more)table kicked in about 2/3 of the way through and the extended (as in often too long) musical and dance numbers kicked in I started losing interest. The hospital scene with the old woman on her death bed left me speechless. And Jessica Lange is a foxy Angel of Death. In the end I liked All That Jazz, but I probably don't need to see it again.
  • FangsFirst
    February 11, 2008
    FangsFirst
    Unfortunately, I chose to watch this film for negative reasons of sorts; I discovered that Roy Scheider has just died, which is quite a shame as I have always liked him--perhaps driven by my lifelong love of Jaws, but never let down when I did see his performances.

    I was ...( read more)immediately interested in this film when I read the concept, drawing from the simple inclusion of Scheider, but then again from just the idea of someone directing a dark and critical, reality-bending, pseudo-autobiographical film that makes their life into a film. That I had liked Cabaret quite a bit (it being one of the first musicals I liked) only enticed me more. A special edition had been announced, which I picked up not long after its release (which was almost a year ago now) and have now watched.

    Joseph Gideon (Scheider) is a workaholic choreographer and director, waking up each morning and immediately playing a Vivaldi piece, dropping Visine in his eyes, taking dexadrine and saying "Showtime, folks!" to himself in the mirror to get himself moving. We first see him crouched at the foot of a stage during auditions, a massive crowd of possible dancers moving to a fantastic rendition of "On Broadway," all milling just off beat from each other, Gideon's ex-wife Audrey Paris (Leland Palmer) and daughter Michelle (Erzsebet Foldi) in the rear of the theatre, chuckling at the most amateurish of the gradually thinning crowd. The producers and money men sit grumbling and looking at their watches and murmuring amongst themselves, Gideon intently focuses on the dancers in front of him, finally narrowing the mass to a single line. There he interviews each based on their names, applications or their performances, flirting with the females openly. The direction and editing tone is set instantly--this film is very, very well-made. The rest of the story--Gideon attempting to edit his film about a stand-up comic while simultaneously directing a huge Broadway show and managing more women than anyone can keep track of until it all drives him to angina--is told in current time, but occasionally with the intrusion of past events, like a flashback to his non-womanizing days as a youth in a burlesque club when he was first starting in show business and actually studied in his spare time. Here director Bob Fosse--director of Lenny about Lenny Bruce, which of course he edited while staging Chicago and being involved with multiple women, if you catch my drift here--shows us a glimpse of the idea that while he is being extremely hard on himself, he also believes that his current state is a corruption of his youth. He does not assign blame or fault in this, though there's suggestion of some influence in that respect--but shows us that once upon a time, things were different. Interspersed between the past and the present are brief glimpses of the future, including his eventual hospitalization, but more importantly there are his flirtings with Angelique (Jessica Lange), who you may or may not recognize immediately, where he discusses, in a surreal set that clearly represents Gideon's own mind, filled with random treasures, memories, files, furnitures, his own life, often being told on a stage in this strange room by the people currently in his life, either singing from their own character's point of view or 'narrating' events that are performed behind or next to them.

    It's stunningly constructed, these little glimpses into Gideon's mind feeling for all the world like we are indeed wandering into his mind, he and Angelique changing randomly their positions and actions because they are outside reality, but always seeming as if she has appeared to interrupt his natural mental business, or occasionally to simply distract him while he continues to act on it, sorting through his mental clutter, perhaps digging at memories or looking for ideas. Everything he says broadcasts an open, frank discussion of his negative habits, that he says "I love you" when it "works," or that he cheated constantly on his wife. He never acts as if these things don't matter objectively, but admits freely that they are something he does and will continue to do. And while he states all things firmly, when he comes back later to the same question and answers differently, it is just like any of us, asked the same emotional question twice in different times in life and answering differently as if this has always been the truth.

    Of course, hiding in this film (from Fosse?! what a shock!) are numerous unbelievable musical setpieces, the first major one--barring the opening "On Broadway"--is "Take Off with Us," Gideon's re-working of songwriter Paul Dann's (Anthony Holland, the character allegedly based on Stephen Schwartz) formerly cheery and simplistic number into into a sexed up Fosse-fied version (dragged out line endings, especially those ending in sibilants, are the signature to my admittedly untrained ear) that morphs into a number that involves extremely erotic dancing and eventually even full-fledged (though not full-frontal) nudity. It's not remotely tawdry or exploitative, at least so long as one isn't too prudish--the choreography is simply too damn good, and the nudity too relevant to the song's subject matter to feel that way. The second most obvious is the fourth-wall-bending "hospital hallucination" sequence"--which we are told is called just that before a clapboard is shut in front of us, showing us that now Fosse is directing himself...directing himself. It's suddenly fantastic musical sets, some dancing reminiscent of Busby Berkeley (which I was originally uncomfortable noting, but someone else mentioned it in the special features, so I'll give it a shot here, and risk criticism later) and the admonishing advice of the women in his life telling him to change his ways before he dies. Finally we are lead into the fantastic ending number, led by Ben Vereen (who I honestly, shamefully, know primarily for his hosting of the Muppet Show at one point) that contorts "Bye Bye Love" from a melodramatic adolescent love song into a disturbingly dark rendition of a man's ode to his own death.

    Appearing further are brief roles for the unusually-haired John Lithgow as a rival stage director who is offered the chance to take over Gideon's play when he enters the hospital--the monetary and financial discussions of this possibility juxtaposed with graphic footage of open-heart surgery, blatant but intelligent--but is mocked by the film itself (and thus most likely Fosse). Appearing, amusingly, in this scene are two even more unknown character actors who also have more hair than I'm used to--David Margulies ("Somebody get me the Ghostbustas!"--yes, Ghostbusters' Mayor) as an accountant and Wallace Shawn (who's that you say? One word:"Inconceivable!") as a man adding up Margulies' totals. Continuing the theme of "money men who are played by unusual character actors who've never gotten terribly big roles," Max Wright (yes, the father on ALF) appears as Joshua Penn, the man harassing Gideon into finishing editing on The Stand-Up.

    An absolutely fantastic film, seamlessly blending musical numbers, surrealist contemplation of mortality, symbolism and autobiographical facts it takes little to recognize--which is a point I can't leave out. Fosse and fellow writer Robert Alan Arthur cleverly choose to draw the perfect line between reality and fiction, with events matching clearly enough that we recognize them, but without looking like they just didn't have the rights to put actual names or footage in, and with all people played by actors who are not the original people (barring Gideon's girlfriend Kate, played by Ann Reinking, who apparently played essentially herself) helping us to simply accept and "live through" Gideon's life, without being overly distracted by too much truth or occlusion so great that we're trying too hard to puzzle out whether, yes, that's referring to Lenny or not. We don't see Dustin Hoffman in the role, we see Cliff Gorman (who, interestingly, apparently played the role of Lenny Bruce on stage), we don't see who the rival in Fosse's life is, we see Lithgow as Lucas Sergeant. This was absolutely refreshing to me as I am easily distracted by media that doesn't draw its lines clear enough, hinting too heavily without being completely explicit, or hiding the truth too well to recognize.
  • kanokaan
    September 24, 2009
    kanokaan
    Really enjoyable.I dont know how to describe it.One the best movies i have seen.I love musicals.It is my favourite genre.And a good musical always reminds me why do i love movies.Because they yell.Well,"All that Jazz" isnt yelling that much.But there many movies that can yell abo...( read more)ut the problem in our lifes.Like "The Network".Peter Finch was yelling (he was really...but thats not the point)he was yelling about economy and what people do.Now this is Cinema's global yelling style.But there Director's personal yelling style:"8½".Fellini was yelling about how hard it is to do movies.And there wasnt any real yelling in his movie.I dont know what connection it has about "All That Jazz".But thats why i love movies this much.
    And i love musicals (not high school musical).Because they are optimist.And im an optimist."All that Jazz" is the first pessimist musical i love.And i know why i love it.I have to say i love ironic things more than musicals.You know...If you use a happy song in a tragedic scene.That is ironi for me."All That Jazz" is doing that.Joe Gideon has a loose life.But Bob Fosse is telling this in a musical way.And the result is over Amazing!Not only Bob Fosse.Roy Scheider has done a great job too.Espeically This is the best movie Editing i have seen.
  • jjnxn
    September 22, 2009
    jjnxn
    Roy Scheider gives a good performance of a basically unlikable person and most of the dancing is very good but the overall tone and feeling of the film is off putting.
  • ElCochran90
    September 18, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Although this is one of the most decent and unique musicals I have seen so far, it is definitely not a happy film. Bob Fosse directs what for me comes being his hardest-to-watch film. I'm not saying this is disturbing, violent or shocking in any way. However, it's a film with sex...( read more), violence, drugs, religion and death as its main themes.

    The most remarkable aspect of the film is definitely its editing, followed by the both the art direction and set decoration, and the musical numbers. I was truly amazed by its editing the first time I saw it and later found out that this gem won 4 out of 9 Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing. Most of the performances were great and the pace was effectively fast.

    Overall, this is a unique, worth watching effort if you are a fan of either musicals or cinema. Two thumbs up.

    84/100
  • Phonex
    September 13, 2009
    Phonex
    Roy Scheider is remarkable.
  • xoxoGossipGirl7
    September 7, 2009
    xoxoGossipGirl7
    Good film, love the song.
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