Review of The Wiz (1978) by James S — 08 Jul 2009

The Wiz was a movie with many problems.

Throughout the entire introduction of the main characters (from the point of the dinner onward), the film relied on the fact that its audience would have seen the Wizard of Oz. Even with this knowledge, the level of belieavability was stretched (a snow-driven white tordado?).

When a film is shot on location, many times the action and dancing must be blocked around the surroundings. This was the case in this movie as well. At times, the action had to be choreographed around objects, so the direction of communication was lost.

The Wiz was originally created for the stage. This film also ran into a problem when pop stars or actors are cast in the main roles which call for a strong vocal performance. Unfortunately, none of the 4 leads had this vocal strength.

This should not be truly considered a weakness of the film, but I always did have a slight problem with the idea of communication. The film was definitely aimed at a specific audience. From this point of view, one can look at it in two ways: the film is a study of the audience to which the film is aimed, or the film doesn't make sense.

I must say one thing...the characters did develope...Dorothy especially. This was shown in a very intelligent way. Rather than having Dorothy laying on her bad saying what she had learned, she made a teachable moment by instructing the Wiz about what she had learned and what he needed to do to change. Very good.

I enjoyed watching the film for the music, dancing, (some of) the sets, costumes, and interpretation of a classic. To call it a really good movie when it is aimed at a select audience is a stretch for me since I am not part of that audience. Nevertheless, I did appreciate the creativity and effort in the movie.