Review of Cabaret (1981) by Justin M — 08 May 2010

Wow. This was just a great movie. When I watch a bunch of Oscar nominees, I notice that for the most part they're all about as good as one another, with few stand outs. Well, this was a stand out film. The acting was incredible; I thought Minnelli in particular was terrific. She played a character I normally find grating-- that wispy, flighty woman that is just supposed to own the screen. Well, for the first time I thought that a character like that did own the screen, mainly because the film portrayed her character with a great deal of depth. Setting the terrific love story against the backdrop of Nazi Germany provided a poignancy that most movies of this ilk lack, and it really elevated it from very good to a great movie.

In 9 out of 10 years, this would be a slam-dunk Best Picture winner. And it still won a lot of Oscars. But I thought it won too many. In particular, Joel Grey winning Supporting Actor over any of the 3 more worthy Godfather nominees was awful. And Bob Fosse winning Best Director over Coppola? Hey, Cabaret was a great movie and would be a great Best Picture winner. But timing is everything, and it had the misfortune of being released in the same year as one of the top two or three best movies ever made. Needless to say, 1972 was a pretty good year for the Oscars (even if they didn't give all of the awards to The Godfather like they should have).