Review of All That Jazz (1979) by Tim H — 27 Oct 2007

I'm still a little out on this movie. Here's why. I loved the absolute ending of the film. It was perfect. I was constantly jumping between what the theme of the movie was. Is the theme about death? Is the story about life? Can you make a story about death without making a story about life? (and vice versa?) That kind of thought really gets me going. That said, I kind of felt that parts of this movie were beating a dead horse. I've seen the negligent father and husband so consumed by his work and his adulterous lifestyle that he is left with nothing. A good portion of this movie is devoted to that.

I want to call this movie the reverse-Christmas Carol. Perhaps people don't get second chances. Perhaps second chances are just cruel sides of hope that we really cannot control. Either way, the fact that I'm this moved in thought by this movie says something about the quality of the film to begin with. My big question of Mr. Fosse though is the casting of Roy Scheider. Oh, sure he was competant and even good as his character. But that being said, you'd think that a movie about a dancer / performer should be played by a dancer / performer. I didn't believe for a second that Roy could move and was just holding back. In the grand battle of acting v. technical dancing, sure, I'll take actor. But in all the talent of Hollywood, you couldn't find an actor / dancer?