Review of The Wiz (1978) by Jamie T — 30 Jan 2010

Some films are so thoroughly misguided, and so pervasively flawed, that it's hard to stop talking about them. THE WIZ is one of those movies. Starting with the decision to have this African-American themed family musical directed by a middle-aged Jew who had recently directed DOG DAY AFTERNOON and NETWORK, matters get mostly worse from there; the 34-year-old Diana Ross was brought in to play Dorothy, and to fit her age, she was made an introverted teacher who has never been south of 125th Street in her life.

She lives in fucking New York City. Not even a trip to Times Square or Central Park? Good God. It doesn't help that Ross brings no life at all to the role. Once we get to Oz, another of the film's worst failings becomes apparent; it uses conceits that would have worked fine on the stage, but which seem awkward on the screen.

These will, throughout the film, include taxicabs (with no visible drivers), which pick up no passengers; walking malevolent subway pillars (what?) and walking trash cans with teeth (the fuck?); a huge TV camera with legs (.

..right); a and a monstrous wife for the Tin Man who appears to be an enormous stereotypical figurine (um, what?). Again, many of these ideas would be fine on the stage, but they come off badly on the screen.

Dorothy's companions, at least, are likable. Michael Jackson makes an excellent Scarecrow, and one wishes he had been in more films. Nipsey Russell is a delightful Tin Man (his song "Slide Some Oil to Me" is one of the best in the film), and Ted Ross makes for a fine Cowardly Lion, although the script shortchanges him a bit.

Mabel King, as Evillene, makes the most of her shamefully short role, while Lena Horne, as Glinda, has too little to do. But her underuse is nothing compared to that of Richard Pryor, who is utterly wasted as the Wiz himself.

Not appearing onscreen until late in the film, and then not doing A DAMN THING, he has no impact on the plot, which is especially unacceptable, given that he had much more to do in the stage play. The elaborate, if artificial, sets and costumes are very nice, and the music is generally delightful, making the paucity of performances of THE WIZ regrettable (while stage transferals of THE WIZARD OF OZ are frequent).

The music numbers are generally well-staged, although the "Brand New Day" sequence, with the dancers in their underwear (why?), goes on far, far too long, and one really wishes that some of this could have trimmed to give Pryor some more screen time.

The film's priorities are misplaced, and only in a few fleeting moments is a sense of real magic achieved. It's one of the major missed opportunities in American cinema.