Roxie Hart, a cheating wannabe performer, and seasoned professional Velma Kelly make an unexpected alliance after bonding over their love of performance, and of course, murder. While trying to break through into the entertainment business, Roxie Hart befriended businessman Fred Casely after he promised her all her dreams would come true. Finding out he lied led to his untimely death at the hands of the devil dressed as the angel in Miss Roxie Hart. Velma Kelly, on the other hand, was already an established performer when she murdered her own sister and husband after finding them doing number 17, the spread eagle. The two were both sent to the Cook County Jail Murderess' Row, led by incredibly corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton as stated in the jazzy musical number entitled, “When You’re Good to Mama”. By the time Roxie Hart got to the jail, Velma Kelly had already been there for over a month and had built a relationship with the best defence lawyer in all of Chicago, Billy Flynn, who only cares about love. Roxie quickly became the shiny new toy on Murderess’ Row, leading to the attention from most of Chicago’s media and the one and only Billy Flynn. Under the advice of Mr. Flynn, Roxie lied and manipulated her way into the hearts of people everywhere, including those on the jury. By using the special razzle dazzle of showbiz, both girls got off mostly unscathed, though life after wasn’t all cupcakes and rainbows as Roxie had initially hoped. It didn’t launch her into stardom, and made her continue to fight tooth and nail to be seen. It wasn’t until Velma approached Roxie about a partnership that would bring both of them back to being front page news. The only person that ended this story in a worse position than the start was the one and only Mr. Cellophane, Amos. He had no wife, no baby, his looks (though I’m not sure he had them to begin with), and was overall pretty lost. The only thing he had going for him was that he was able to rid the pain and stress that Roxie forced into his life. Moral of the story is, stay away from jazz and liquor and the men who play for fun and you should be good to go.

Critique~ 

I love Chicago. I can’t stress enough how much I have watched Chicago, listened to the soundtrack, and debated what I could have done to become a part of the Cell Block Tango. I have always wanted to do a solo to All That Jazz, I mean, I love Chicago. That being said, I really don’t like certain parts of this movie, more specifically, I don’t like Billy Flynn. Don’t get me wrong, Richard Gere is one of my favorite actors with his role in Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, but him as Billy just rubbed me the wrong way. Billy was a liar and a cheat that let dozens of murderers go free just to keep his good record. He falsified information, he let Roxie lie about her pregnancy, and he had a god complex that just made him plain irritating. 

Another issue I have is the treatment of Hunkyak, the Hungarian prisoner. While all the other murderesses of the Cook County Jail admitted to their crimes, Hunkyak pleaded not guilty. Her being an immigrant put this case against her from the start due to the language barrier. Her portion of Call Block Tango roughly translates to, “What am I doing here? They said the lodger held my husband down while I bludgeoned his head. But it is not true. I am innocent. I do not know why Uncle Sam says I did it. I tried to explain to the police, but they did not understand!” This is completely different from the others because they described, in detail, how they killed their significant others, like one saying, “He ran into my knife. He ran into my knife 10 times,” and another saying, “Some guys just can’t hold their arsenic.” Hunkyak doesn’t. She ends up being executed for her crimes, unrightfully so. She was not guilty but because of her nationality and language barrier, she ended up paying the price. I understand that criminals do not always get their rightful punishment or sometimes punishment at all.

Moving on, I would also like to reiterate the sheer starpower that the soundtrack gave audiences. There is a song for every mood. Wanting to get revenge? Listen to Cell Block Tango. Feeling slightly depressed and alone? Mr. Cellophane has got your back. Getting ready to lie? Listen to Razzle Dazzle to get you in the spirit. This soundtrack covers every emotion out there. All in all, Chicago is an amazing movie.