Review of All That Jazz (1979) by Ryan G — 24 Oct 2011

"Lenny" is my fav Bob Fosse film but "All That Jazz" is the best film Fosse has ever made. It is based on his own life when he was editing his film "Lenny" while also preparing for a Broadway musical. Roy Scheider plays the Bob Fosse character Joe Giddeon who is a chain smoking, drug, promiscious, workaholic. Giddeon cares a lot about his dancers and even feels guilty for not being a good father and a terrible womanizer.

The best scene imo is the erotic ballet sequence performed by Giddeon's cast. The cast undresses half nakedly while performing difficult orgy dance routines that makes one of the penny pinchers exec quoting "There goes the family audience". It's quite clear that ballet all comes down to emulating sex. Dancers work so hard in order to keep their bodies fit, it's maddening. By the time these dancers reach their mid 30's they're done or if a dancer breaks their achillies tendon. Very Crucial.

"All That Jazz" is also funny and never dated. The music scores blends and fits in well with the picture and Roy Scheider easily gives one of his best performances. I've watched a bit of dance picture lately but not as good as this. Fosse is the perfect director for this story and each time I witness the sweaty Giddeon, Fosse sends chills along my spine because again it's basically looking at Fosse and his flaws. This is a great film. I liked this a lot.