The script is a bit of a jumble at times, with the odd groaner particularly with Wallace Shawn's one line(the worst line of the film and Shawn is wasted) and Schneider and Lange's chemistry comes across as a little wooden. But everything else about All That Jazz is so great, it is one of the better 1970s musicals and one of the most unique ones you'll see anywhere along with Ken Russell's The Boy Friend. All That Jazz looks spectacular, the editing, costumes and art direction all won Oscars that were richly deserved. The editing and cinematography is some of the most imaginative of any musical, the costumes are rich in colour and the art direction is wonderfully opulent. The score also won an Oscar which was also deserved, it captures all the glitz and glamour of musical theatre brilliantly with no over-sentimentalising. The songs are ones that you will have no trouble remembering, Take Off With Us being the highlight. And they are superbly staged and imaginatively shot with choreography that is unlike what you've seen before and since, plus it is very rhythmically driven(again the very erotic Take Off With Us is the standout, though Everything Old is New Again is very sweet). The reality parts of the story blend surprisingly well with the more fantasy-like ones, the reality stuff is often hard-hitting and unpleasant but very real like Joe Gideon himself while the fantasy has a real surrealism to it. Fosse's direction is truly impressive, yes some scenes like the death sequence is a touch self-indulgent but there is his usual pizazz and rhythmic precision while also very Fellini-esque, reminding one somewhat of 8 1/2. Roy Schneider gives a blistering career-best performance as a very sordid character with a good amount of complexity. Jessica Lange is alluring, Leland Palmer is equally solid and Ann Reinking is equally charming. The director-daughter relationship is touchingly done. Overall, a wonderful, if somewhat divisive, musical and one of Fosse's best alongside Cabaret. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Review of All That Jazz
