Chicago

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

The singing and dancing in this Chicago are uniformly splendid, right down to Gere's tap dancing. The high wit and dark eroticism Marshall brings to the famous "Cell Block Tango" number are matchless.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

With its eye-popping color, bold personality and snazzy tunes, Chicago is a breathtaking experience.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Chicago is the zingiest, most inventive movie of its kind since "Cabaret."

Slate David Edelstein

Isn't just the most explosively entertaining movie musical in a couple of decades. It's going to be the most influential: the one that inspires the rebirth of the Hollywood musical.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

A superior adaptation that bypasses the Ann Reinking version now on Broadway.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Chicago, based on Bob Fosse's Broadway smash, kills.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Sophisticated, brash, sardonic, completely joyful in its execution. It gives anyone who ever loved movie musicals, and lamented their demise, something to live for.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Not since the 1972 'Cabaret' has there been a movie musical this stirring, intelligent and exciting.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The movie is a total blast, and what a surprise.

USA Today Mike Clark

More than any other example in recent memory, Chicago shows how much the element of surprise is missing from today's movies.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The usually quiet Zellweger is the revelation: Like her character, the actress seems happily amazed to find herself crossing a polished dance floor, sheathed in silk and diamonds, having the naughty, self-glorifying time of her life.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

At times, Chicago has the feel of a revue, with the major characters taking turns at their own show-stopping numbers. If it's too much of a good thing, I say, bring it on.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

A funny, rousing crowd-pleaser.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Freshly transplanted from the stage, is a thrilling ode to the intertwined glories of sex, showmanship, and lying: what the film calls ''the old razzle-dazzle.''

Newsweek David Ansen

Exuberantly theatrical yet every inch a movie, and some numbers ("The Cell Block Tango") are so entertaining you might want to applaud.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Who would have expected Ms. Zellweger --- and Miramax -- to come through in a musical? And it's one of the few Christmas entertainments to run under two hours. Who couldn't love that?

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Delicious.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Good, solid entertainment.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Throw bouquets at Marshall, who instead of dissecting it to death, neatly resurrects the Hollywood musical.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

For some reason, the people who make modern musicals don't like to let you watch dancers dance -- there are still too few moments when you get to enjoy choreography from a dancer's hands to her feet.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

An exuberant, appropriately cynical reinvention of the stalwart Broadway hit that deftly straddles the line between old-fashioned Hollywood musicals and experimental concoctions like last year's "Moulin Rouge."

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is a dazzling song and dance extravaganza, with just enough words to support the music and allow everyone to catch their breath between songs.

LA Weekly Lisa Kennedy

Chicago is that rare thing: a nutritious hard candy.

Variety David Rooney

First-time feature director Rob Marshall and Oscar-winning "Gods and Monsters" screenwriter Bill Condon have spun the dark tale of two murdering floozies into a widely palatable entertainment, but the long-gestating film comes up short in rhythm and personality.

Time Richard Corliss

Has so much razzle-dazzle that viewers may end up both raised and dazed. It's remorselessly inventive, trying anything fast and sassy to keep you watching. In other words, it's the most honest display of showpeople's need to be noticed this side of a Madonna concert.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Zeta-Jones can belt out her numbers, Zellweger can purr hers, and Gere-a musician who played his own cornet solos in "The Cotton Club"-can sell his songs and even dance a spiffy little tap dance. They're better than you'd expect-and so is the movie.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

By the end, though, the production is engulfed by barely controlled frenzy -- all decor and no air, music as lo-cal ear candy, scenes as merchandise to be sold, people as two-dimensional props.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Non-musical scenes that move the narrative forward are staged realistically, while the lavish production numbers reflect the star-struck imagination of one-time chorine Roxie, for whom all the world ought to be a stage.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

The energy of the performances and John Kander and Fred Ebb's enduring score push the musical scenes and the entire film over any hurdle--yes, even including that misbegotten casting of Gere.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

It's Zeta-Jones who keeps you watching from start to finish -- You'd have to go back to Joan Crawford in her hungry prime, in films like "Rain" and "The Women," to find another female film star who grabs hold of the screen with such ferocity.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

The only player to conquer Chicago is Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is no Charisse in her motions but who gets by on a full tank of unleaded oomph. [6 January 2003, p. 90]

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

I realize that Fosse's dark sizzle might seem a bit dated today, but surely something halfway snazzy could have been devised for this movie. It's toothless.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

I seem to be in a distinct minority in finding the satire toothless, obvious, and insufferably glib -- Still, I found genuine pleasure in watching Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, and John C. Reilly try their hands at singing and dancing.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

It's hard not to wish that Chicago had taken place inside a more imaginative head.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The trouble with Chicago is the sense it conveys that nothing is really at stake -- there's no moral or ethical question that can't be turned into toe-tapping fun.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The net effect of the incessant dazzle is depressing.

Film Threat Phil Hall

Chicago is a failure, but that should not come as a surprise. Bob Fosse, who directed and choreographed the original 1975 Broadway production, was long baffled in making a film of the show and eventually gave up trying.