On A List of Movie Reviews

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All That Jazz (1979)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 1/21

AllJazz
1/21: Having enjoyed Cabaret, Lenny, and Star 80, I'm disappointed that All That Jazz is a self-indulgent mess.

Based on Bob Fosse's time working on the choreography for a Broadway musical entitled Chicago while editing Lenny, it's not a terrible film but has been overblown with nothing significant to say.

The chaotic, frenetic editing is akin to being pushed through the restaurant as soon as I walk inside and be told to eat everything right away in mere minutes before being kicked out to make room for the next customer. At the end, I never got to enjoy anything.

I don't get dance...I just don't. It's all made-up crap to me. People could dance this or that way, but I still wouldn't know the difference. In All That Jazz, it's arbitrarily done which seems to be aimed at filling in the time when dance should have a clear purpose.

The acting isn't a problem. While Jessica Lange is barely involved, Roy Scheider is the star of the show and deserves a lot of credit. However, it's clear from the outset that his creepy-looking character looks like death. Joe Gideon will die unless he ceases smoking, drinking, and taking Dexedrine for good. But once he said he didn't care, then why should I? That's when Bob Fosse lost me.

All in all, Joe Gideon's death as shown in All That Jazz happened to Bob Fosse eight years afterwards.