X
- 1980
- PG
- Associated Film Distribution (AFD)
- 1 h 55 m
- 1980
- PG
- Associated Film Distribution (AFD)
- 1 h 55 m
Summary The son of a Jewish Cantor (Neil Diamond) must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of being a popular singer.
Directed By: Richard Fleischer, Sidney J. Furie
Written By: Samson Raphaelson, Herbert Baker, Stephen H. Foreman
- 1980
- PG
- Associated Film Distribution (AFD)
- 1 h 55 m
- 1980
- PG
- Associated Film Distribution (AFD)
- 1 h 55 m
The Jazz Singer
37
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch
Summary The son of a Jewish Cantor (Neil Diamond) must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of being a popular singer.
Directed By: Richard Fleischer, Sidney J. Furie
Written By: Samson Raphaelson, Herbert Baker, Stephen H. Foreman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
37
13% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
63% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
37
13% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
63% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Neil Diamond isn't the best actor, and the 1980 version of The Jazz Singer doesn't have the best script, but this movie (love on the) rocks nonetheless.
Neil Diamond's remake of the 1927 Jolson vehicle isn't very good, but neither is it the vacuous, sentimental ego trip it's been painted as.
No one’s going to get sweaty palms waiting for the answer, as Samson Raphaelson’s venerable chestnut lacks urgency and plausible incidental detail.
Such a half-baked, arbitrary update that the decrepit plot seems to arise from the misty region of a kind of Jewish Brigadoon in contemporary Manhattan, a Ghetto That Time Forgot. [20 Dec 1980, p.D3]
One look at[Neil Diamond's] conspicuously coiffed hair-do and spotlight-glazed eyes and you know this man has been assimilated years ago, probably at Caesars Palace...Richard Fleischer directed this twaddle, using so many yellow filters it looks as if jaundice had set in. [5 Jan 1981, p.55]
Neil Diamond (who even reverts to Al Jolson's blackface for one sequence) is wholly unbelievable as the cantor's son who forsakes the synagogue for the bright lights of pop music.
The Jazz Singer has so many things wrong with it that a review threatens to become a list. Let me start with the most obvious: This movie is about a man who is at least 20 years too old for such things to be happening to him. The Jazz Singer looks ridiculous giving us Neil Diamond going through an adolescent crisis.
User Reviews
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Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Nominations
Razzie Awards
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 3 Nominations
