Films of the 2000s Rankdown

[Alex95]

5. Chicago

8.0/20

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@*Chris - 2/20

@Deeee - 3/20

@FrogLenzen - 5/20

@*Diana - 7/20

@~Tom~ - 12/20

Public - 13/40

@Steven_ - 14/20

 

@Alex95 - 2/20

@*Wallace - 3/20

@#jeah - 13/20

@.Rei - 14/20

@Elliott - 14/20

@totes4totes - 17/20

 

Chris

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Chicago! One of my favourite film of the 2000s that has solidify itself as one of my all-time favourite especially after each re-watch. Out of the Top 20, it is the movie that I find myself return to the most which is certainly not surprising considering my love for everything musical related. 

By now, everyone should know about Chicago whether it is due to its stage production or the commercial success that the musical found upon its release 2002. The commercial success experienced by Chicago should be no surprise considering that Chicago is a staple in the world of musical theatre, especially since its premier in 1975 and subsequently its revival in 1996 which continues to break record to this day with it being one of the longest-running Broadway production, right behind Phantom of the Opera, meaning that it's also the longest-running show currently on Broadway. 
 

Like the stage production, we could say that what makes the film truly special is Bob Fosse's choreography, which helps carry the plot - the story of two female prisoners who become celebrities after their crimes and manipulation of the justice system in 1920s Chicago - through musical numbers as the film progresses. But it's certainly Fosse's choreography that is the driving force, as each musical number has its own unique choreography that helps push the story forward and explore some of the film's key themes such as stardom, corruption, show business, and media sensationalism.

 

When one thinks of Chicago musical numbers, many come to mind, but perhaps the most prominent is "All That Jazz," the opening number, with its steamy choreography that sets the tone for the entire musical. It introduces the audience to the corrupt and ruthless world of show business. Another outstanding number is the seductive "Cell Block Tango", one of the most instantly recognizable numbers from the musical, where inmates tell their stories through dance and the usage of a red or white props to indicate their guilt and innocence. Other key numbers include "Roxie," which highlights the main character's journey to prominence, "I Can't Do It Alone" which showcases Velma's desperation for attention. In addition, two of my favorites include "We Both Reached For The Gun," in which Billy Flynn uses puppets to manipulate Roxie Hart's story in front of the media, and "Razzle Dazzle," a commentary on the corrupt judicial system. In other words, many of the songs through its delivery and choreography, including the final epic number of "Nowadays",

played a key role in the development of the plot.

But the musical numbers can only be as good as the individual delivering the performance, including the dancing and the singing in which all of truly exceeded everyone's expectation at the time.  For the musical numbers to drive the storyline, it had to rely largely on the individual performances, especially the singing and dancing, which was an area that the cast were able to excelled in. They were all above to deliver performances that exceeded expectations, but a standout remains Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, a sly and ambiguous vaudeville performer and murderess. She brought a fierce, sultry energy to her performance on stage, and all while being pregnant during filming which makes her performance even more so impressive. One of the most memorable moments of the film is the way she handles her character's life. She rightfully won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, as she truly embodied Velma throughout the film. Another standout performance came from Renée Zellweger, as Roxie Hart, who embodied the character's despair for fame and her willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve it, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Other performances that deserves to be highlighted include Queen Latifah's strong and authoritative portrayal of Mama Morton, especially during "When You're Good To Mama", which earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars; and Richard Gere's perfect portrayal of Mama Morton, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Richard Gere was perfect as Billy Flynn, the charming and manipulative lawyer, while Christine Baranski was able to command her scenes as Mary Sunshine, the tabloid journalist who glamorizes the crimes of women in prison. John C. Reilly remains a surprise for his performance as Roxie's naive and neglected husband, notably during the musical performance of "Mr. Cellophane", which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The chemistry among the cast members helped to advance the story, and providing memorable musical numbers throughout the film.

Of all the elements already mentioned, Chicago director Rob Marshall deserves credit for bringing the beloved Broadway musical to the big screen while remaining true to the source material, capturing the energy and intimacy of the stage production. From the editing to the choreography to the mesmerizing visuals to the dazzling costumes to the incredible sets, they all come together to create a stellar filmic experience. There's no wonder Chicago won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, an honour well deserved even more so considering it's was the first musical to win the award since 1968. Overall, Chicago's success can be attributed to its direction, excellent performances and its successful translation from stage to screen.
 

As mention earlier, the ability of the film to stay true to the original Broadway production while pushing the envelope in terms of cinematography and direction is what makes this film one of the best of the decade, in my opinion.  If you have never seen the stage version, I recommend everyone to check it out - Youtube will be your friend! 

 

Dee

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Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Queen Latifah, the women that you are!!!

 

So Chicago is my favorite musical of all-time and a top 5 film of all-time for me. I was not sure if that was known amongst the rankers playing, so I kept that card close to my chest and let Chris do all the work to save and advance this film. Thanks Chris! LOL. But thank goodness he did, because Chicago is absolutely deserving of being a finalist.

 

Simply put, Chicago is just fun on such a large, bold scale. The soundtrack? Perfection. Very, very few musicals have zero skips, but this is a zero-skip soundtrack. I am constantly torn between When You're Good To Mama and Cell Block Tango, which are just two perfect productions from every aspect. But the reality is I sing every song from the soundtrack at least once a week. Though I think the latter of those two songs highlights the epic scale and production of this movie, which is really just immaculate. From choreography to visuals to sets and costume design, Chicago is a spectacle. A truly big, bold film experience. 

 

But underneath the jazzy surface, the film's exploration of themes such as corruption, scandal, celebrity, and fame during the vaudevillian Jazz Age in Chicago, provide a unique depth and darkness to this film that I love. The decision to film the musical numbers as cutaway scenes in the mind of Roxie, which stand in stark contrast to the gritty real-life scenes, is a very smart one. Really just think Rob Marshall utilized the advantages of cinema over the stage very creatively to bring the big-screen musical back to life. 

 

Chicago is just non-stop fun with the right amount of humor, depth, and stylized perfection. Each performance is so phenomenal that the characters feel real? IDK I just want to meet and hang out with all of these murderous women desperate for fame strong enough to keep them from dying in prison! But also props to Richard Gere and John C. Reilly, because even though the women are the clear stars here, both deliver such memorable performances. But really hard to topple the juggernaut performances and characters that are Velma Kelly, Roxie Hart, Matron "Mama" Morton, Mary Sunshine, or any of our merry murderers of Murderess Row.

 

Chicago is a perfect cinematic experience. Excited to see where this lands in the final ranking.

 

Derek

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yeah it really is that good. I forgot. It’s been yearssss since I’d seen it. Over a decade. CZJ ate that, one of my all time favorite film performances. I usually am very tentative with film versions of musicals because directors/producers/casting usually has “good singing voice” as the last on their list of priorities. And personally it’s a top priority for me. So to make up for it you’ve got to really dazzle me with everything else. Razzle dazzle me.

 

And this film achieves it. Yes I would like to see a version of this film where they have the top singers in the world doing all the tracks. I trust that I’ll get that version in my lifetime. But I can’t hate on any of the acting and dancing and choreography and staging and cinematography and just… the entire production. It’s phenomenal.

 

It goes without saying that this is one of the most iconic and influential musicals ever made, so obviously that lends itself to a great film. The odds are stacked in your favor if you know what you’re doing. Kander. Ebb. Fosse. Taking all that into consideration, Rob Marshall did the thing. His vision was good and he executed it perfectly. Splicing the vaudeville cutaways with the real life Chicago setting just worked.

 

This movie won Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Costumes, Best Art Direction. And of course, CZJ got her Oscar as well. Cell Block Tango is just an amazing piece of theater in general, and here it becomes an amazing piece of cinema. Catherine Zeta Jones. Myá. Deidre Goodwin. Denise Faye. Ekaterina Chtchelkanova. Susan Misner. Instant legend status for all of them. 

 

But even with Cell Block Tango being flawless, what's the moment of the movie??? The cameo appearance by legendary Lucy Liu where you think everything is over for Roxie and then... "I only hope the fall didn't hurt the baby"  cue "Me and My Baby" playing in the background one of my top movie moments of all time.

 

I’m lowkey thrilled that this survived over Moulin Rouge, which is just something that I never could fully understand the appeal of. Moulin Rouge is hot garbage compared to this. Chicago deserves all the love it has gotten. Although I still think Once deserved and I'm not over that yet.

 

Diana

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When a movie has Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Griggs, Queen Latfiah and John C. Reilly among others? Well you just know it is going to be good. And that is exactly what Chicago is. I was glad to see a musical make the end game here! I did not expect one to be and it makes me so happy Chicago is getting the praise it deserves. I honestly had a better write up written but it got loss and I have done 19 other writes up today and AM TIRED lol! I don't think there is much to say other than I loved the story, the music, and the acting!

 

Tom

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The correct musical was the last one standing! It would have been nice if it and Walk the Line could have fought it out in the top 20. I watched it recently and forgot how great Catherine Zeta-Jones was in it, plus All That Jazz is one of my favorite songs from a musical ever. I like that it's based on real-life events as well.

 

Alex

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MVP: Renée Zellweger

Favorite Scene: Cell Block Tango

 

Pretty much the greatest musical to film adaptation ever made. How did Rob Marshall pull this off? The same man who tortured us with Annie, Nine, and Into the Woods? One of the worst film directors ever somehow made magic. And I don't think it was an accident. It's not weak direction elevated by strong performances and source material. I love the direction! This movie does a fantastic job of honoring the stage the way they do musical numbers while still making the entire thing cinematic. Stage to screen can be pretty difficult and this was done so well. How did it all go wrong Rob?

This movie is just FUN. The plot is bonkers and I'm sold every step of the way. I'm glad Derek highlighted the baby scene, one of my favorite moments from the movie as well. So many little moments sprinkled throughout the movie that make it so funny and so entertaining. And the cast! One of the most perfectly cast films ever. Tbh I'm actually not in love with Gere here, but I can forgive that because Reilly, Latifah, and especially CZJ are all delivering scene stealing supporting work here. However, the star of the show is Zellweger, this movie fails without her giving the perfect blend of desperation and innate stardom. I'm not Zellweger's biggest fan in the world, but she had me as a believer at one point in time. A far stronger performance than either of her Oscar wins. A part of me is bitter we didn't get Toni Collette though, who got passed by for Zellweger. I just know she would've killed it

And of course, what's a good musical without their musical numbers. I'm sorry but there are so many musicals nowadays where the movie ends and I cannot remember a single song. Look at Mary Poppins Returns, somehow Rob Marshall's second best movie. I saw it in theaters, I enjoyed it well enough at the time. Right now I couldn't even hum a single note from that movie if you asked me to. Chicago is just filled with iconic musical numbers. And yes, they were all well established from the original musical. But they were brought to life so effortlessly, and the cinematic experience of them added a bit extra oomph to them. I can't imagine "When You're Good to Mama" without Queen Latifah anymore. The puppetfied version of "We Both Reached for the Gun" was shockingly well done. Zellweger & CZJ make for a perfect duo in "Hot Honey Rag". And of course, we don't even need to talk about Cell Block Tango. Everyone should know what a perfect and iconic musical number that is. My girl Mya and the rest of them truly did their thing there!

 

Rei

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I thought I wasn't going to care for this and it ended up being a pleasant surprise. Acting was pretty strong with the standout being of course Catherine Zeta-Jones who just murdered all her scenes. Story was fun and musical numbers were great. I don't normally enjoy musicals but this one was pretty good and deserving of all the awards it got.

 

Megan

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I was a bit surprised to see Chicago make it all the way to the Top 20. But not unpleasantly so. I just thought that it would suffer since it kind of undeservedly won Best Picture of 2002 over better movies like Adaptation, Punch-Drunk Love which weren't nominated and Gangs of New York and The Hours which were. Even here in this rankdown you all cut some of the best films of 2002. Thank goodness at least City of God and The Two Towers made it through so I don't have to call the group of rankers completely tasteless. Despite all my criticism, I actually really love Chicago. I was definitely too young to watch this movie when it originally came out, but I was a theater kid in high school so I want to say that I watched it around somewhere around 2005 or 2006. (Because after it I SHOCKINGLY had a Renee Zellweger phase and I think her most recent movie at the time was either Cinderella Man or Miss Potter). Despite loving it at the time, I haven't really done like maybe more than one or two full re-watches. Don't get me wrong, I've spent MANY hours watching specific numbers ("All That Jazz," "Cell Block Tango," "We Both Reached for the Gun," and "When You're Good To Mama") but not the whole thing and definitely not in the past like 5-10 years. And good to know that I still love it and this watch gave me a new appreciation for much of it. Since the first time I've watched it and now, I've actually seen the stage production and having seen the stage production, it showcases how both how smart the screen transition is and how deft Rob Marshall's ability to direct and choreograph is. The stage production is a straight up Vaudeville musical, minimal staging, classic Fosse choreography. It's very good but very theater and very not screen. Rob Marshall is able to take all of that and makes this very slick production where all the musical numbers are essentially Roxie's fantasies. Speaking of Rob Marshall's direction, Tom Hooper's HACK productions of both Les Miserables and CATS (actually a genius movie despite Tom Hooper), make me appreciate Rob Marshall's direction more. The casting is also excellent nailing all 6 principle parts. Finally, on a scale of 1-10 this ranks basically a 9 on lesbianism. Queen Latifah as Matron Mama Morton is basically explicit in trading sexual acts for favors. And she and Velma were definitely f*cking.

 

Steven

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Chicago is another movie I never watched before, but I finally did for this game. I didn't realize how little I knew about the Chicago musical until I watched the film. The plot went in a direction I wasn't expecting. I knew there were women in jail for murdering their husbands/boyfriends, but I didn't know the plot was basically about two women competing for notoriety. They both want to be freed from jail while also capturing the attention of the media. Well, it didn't really make for the most compelling movie. Roxie was an unlikable character, and I didn't like how she pretty much got what she wanted by the end of the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones was excellent in the film though, and I can see why she won an Oscar for her role. But I didn't really find the film very entertaining, except for the Cell Block Tango scene. That was the best part of the film. After I finished the film, I was certain this would be near the very bottom of my ranking. Luckily for Chicago, I ended up disliking some other films even more.

 

[Elliott]

As someone who's very notably anti-musicals, Chicago's alright. I think this ranking is too high, but I feel that way about pretty much everything that's left.

[Steven_]

Me reading these glowing write-ups for Chicago.

[.Rei]

As someone who had no idea what Chicago was all about, I was pleasantly surprised on how much I enjoyed it 

[#jeah]

8 minutes ago, Elliott said:

As someone who's very notably anti-musicals, Chicago's alright. I think this ranking is too high, but I feel that way about pretty much everything that's left.

Just say you wanted Mean Girls to win

[*Wallace]

LOL Now I'm just down to my #7 of my Top 10.   

 

Pleasantly surprised and happy for Chicago made it to 5th as so many people were wanting and asking for it to be out for awhile now.  

[Deeee]

5 minutes ago, Elliott said:

As someone who's very notably anti-musicals, Chicago's alright. I think this ranking is too high, but I feel that way about pretty much everything that's left.

 

2 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

Me reading these glowing write-ups for Chicago.

BOOOOOO

[FrogLenzen]

[FrogLenzen]

me Chris Dee Alex Wallace and Diana in jail after murdering everyone else

[Elliott]

12 minutes ago, #jeah said:

Just say you wanted Mean Girls to win

Obviously.

[Steven_]

9 minutes ago, Deeee said:

 

BOOOOOO

[Elliott]

9 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Don’t you dare drag Scream 2 into this. 

[Alex95]

1 minute ago, Elliott said:

Obviously.

As you should!

[*Chris]

19 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

Me reading these glowing write-ups for Chicago.

*keep quiet Chris, keep quiet* 

[*Chris]

10 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

me Chris Dee Alex Wallace and Diana in jail after murdering everyone else

Iconic!

[*Chris]

12 minutes ago, Deeee said:

 

BOOOOOO

Dee, who would have thought that we would have been on par with two of our Top three ?! 

Edited April 27, 2023 by *Chris

[*Chris]

Friendship with Steven and Andy over their ranking of my top four! 

[Steven_]

11 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

me Chris Dee Alex Wallace and Diana in jail after murdering everyone else

[*Chris]

Let’s get my #16 show-up and ensure it doesn’t win.  
 

I’m also counting on Lady Diana to come through!

[Steven_]

1 minute ago, *Chris said:

Friendship with Steven and Andy over their ranking of my top four! 

If it makes you feel better, Juno is likely winning with Spirited Away falling just short. 

 

I should’ve tanked Juno.

[*Chris]

11 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

If it makes you feel better, Juno is likely winning with Spirited Away falling just short. 

 

I should’ve tanked Juno.

I should’ve ranked Spirited Away dead last over Mean Girls  

[FrogLenzen]

20 minutes ago, Steven_ said:

our attorney is going to get us off the hook!

[*Wallace]

12 minutes ago, *Chris said:

Let’s get my #16 show-up and ensure it doesn’t win.  
 

I’m also counting on Lady Diana to come through!

[*Wallace]

5 minutes ago, *Chris said:

I should’ve ranked Spirited Away dead last over Mean Girls  

I'm surprised you didn't as I thought Spirited Away was always going to be a big threat to win.  

[Alex95]

2 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

our attorney is going to get us off the hook!

Her