Review of All That Jazz (1979) by Charles P — 07 Aug 2016

Roy Scheider plays a womanizing, pill-popping, and egotistical theater director who is a (very thinly) disguised version of co-writer/director Bob Fosse. All That Jazz follows this director as he battles to stage an elaborate musical while his declining health and atrophied relationships crumble around him.

All That Jazz is often compared to Fellini's 8 1/2 since it features a self-destructive auteur wading through hallucinatory sequences as his doomed production steadily fails. It's not even remotely fair to compare All That Jazz to such a universally beloved classic, but it still comes out looking good thanks to its beautifully staged dance routines, daring story structure, and some impressive acting from a cast personally affected by Fosse's proclivities both on the stage and off.