Chicago (2002 film)

In 1924, housewife Roxie Hart watches vaudeville star Velma Kelly perform ("Overture/All That Jazz") at The Onyx, a Chicago nightclub. Seeking stardom, Roxie begins an affair with furniture salesman Fred Casely, who claims to know the manager. After the show, Velma is arrested for killing her husband Charlie and sister Veronica, after catching them in bed together. A month later, Casely admits to Roxie that he lied about his connections in order to sleep with her. Enraged, she shoots him dead. She convinces her gullible husband, Amos, to take the blame, telling him she killed a burglar in self-defense. However, when evidence of Roxie's infidelity is uncovered, Amos recants and tells the police that Casely was dead when he arrived home ("Funny Honey"). Roxie is arrested, with District Attorney Martin Harrison declaring she faces execution by hanging.

At Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderess' Row, supervised by the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton ("When You're Good to Mama"). She learns the backstories of the other women there, including her idol Velma ("Cell Block Tango"), whom she attempts to befriend but is rebuffed. On Morton's advice, Roxie engages Velma's lawyer, the brilliant Billy Flynn ("All I Care About"). Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press, reinventing Roxie as an originally virtuous Southern woman corrupted by the city's decadent nightlife; she claims that she had the affair with Casely because Amos was always working, but repented and left Casely for Amos, and Casely jealously attacked her ("We Both Reached for the Gun"). The press believe the story; praised by the public as a tragic heroine, Roxie becomes an overnight sensation ("Roxie"). Velma, unhappy at losing the public's attention, tries to convince Roxie to join her act, replacing the sister that she murdered ("I Can't Do It Alone"), but Roxie, now the more popular of the two rivals, snubs her just as Velma originally snubbed Roxie.

Meanwhile, when wealthy heiress Kitty Baxter is arrested for murdering her husband and his two mistresses, the press and Flynn instantly shift their focus to her. To Velma's surprise, Roxie quickly regains the spotlight by claiming pregnancy. Amos is ignored by the press ("Mister Cellophane"), and Flynn, to generate more sympathy for Roxie, convinces him that the child is Casely's, and that he should divorce Roxie in the middle of her predicament. Roxie decides to fire Flynn, believing she can now win on her own. However, when Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian woman on Murderess' Row (the only inmate who insists on her own innocence), becomes the first woman in Cook County history to be executed by hanging, Roxie realizes the gravity of the situation and rehires Flynn.

Roxie's trial begins, and Billy turns it into a media spectacle ("Razzle Dazzle") with the help of sensationalist newspaper reporters and radio personality Mary Sunshine. Billy discredits witnesses, manipulates evidence and even stages a public reconciliation between Amos and Roxie when she claims the child is his. The trial seems to be going well for Roxie until Velma appears with Roxie's diary, reading incriminating entries in exchange for amnesty in her own case. Billy discredits the diary, implying that Harrison was the one who planted the evidence ("A Tap Dance"). Roxie is acquitted, but her fame is eclipsed moments later when another woman, who had also shot her own husband, shoots her lawyer outside the courthouse. Flynn admits to Roxie that he tampered with her diary himself, in order to incriminate the DA and also free two clients simultaneously. Amos remains loyal and excited to be a father, but Roxie cruelly reveals that she faked her pregnancy.

Roxie continues to pursue a vaudeville career, with limited success ("Nowadays"). The similarly unsuccessful Velma reapproaches Roxie to suggest performing together as a double act consisting of two murderers. Roxie initially refuses, but later accepts when Velma points out that they can perform together despite their mutual resentment. The two stage a spectacular performance ("Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag"), receiving a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience that includes Flynn, Morton, the jurors, and other acquitted murderesses.

• Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart, a housewife who aspires to be a vaudevillian, and is arrested for the murder of her deceitful paramour Fred Casely. Jennifer Aniston was considered for the role.[5]
• Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, a charismatic vaudevillian who is arrested for the murders of her husband Charlie and sister Veronica after catching them in bed together.
• Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, a duplicitous, greedy, smooth-talking lawyer who turns his clients into celebrities to gain public support for them. Michael Jackson was considered for the role, but Harvey Weinstein heavily objected to the idea of casting Jackson as he felt more attention would be paid to him than the rest of the cast. John Travolta was offered the role but turned it down.[6]
• Queen Latifah as Matron "Mama" Morton, the corrupt but nurturing matron of the Cook County Jail
• John C. Reilly as Amos Hart, Roxie's naïve, simple-minded but devoted husband
• Lucy Liu as Kitty Baxter, a millionaire heiress who briefly outshines Roxie and Velma when she kills her husband and his two mistresses
• Taye Diggs as the bandleader, a shadowy, mystical master of ceremonies who introduces each song
• Colm Feore as Martin Harrison, the prosecutor in both Roxie and Velma's court cases
• Christine Baranski as Mary Sunshine, a sensationalist reporter
• Dominic West as Fred Casely, Roxie's deceitful paramour and murder victim
• Mýa Harrison as Mona, a prisoner on Murderess' Row who killed her artist boyfriend Al Lipschitz via strangulation after discovering he had multiple affairs
• Deidre Goodwin as June, a prisoner on Murderess' Row who killed her husband Wilbur by stabbing him ten times with her kitchen knife after he angrily accused her out of jealousy of having an affair with the milkman
• Denise Faye as Annie, a prisoner on Murderess' Row who killed her boyfriend Ezekiel Young by poisoning his drink with arsenic after discovering he was a Mormon with six different wives
• Ekaterina Chtchelkanova as Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian prisoner on Murderess' Row who insists she is innocent and does not speak English except for two words: "not guilty"; regardless, she is hanged
• Susan Misner as Liz, a prisoner on Murderess' Row who killed her husband Bernie by shooting him twice in the head after he would not stop popping his gum
• Jayne Eastwood as Mrs. Borusewicz, the Harts' neighbor from across the hall
• Chita Rivera as Nickie, a prostitute. Rivera originated the role of Velma in the Broadway musical Chicago in 1975; her appearance in the film is a cameo.

Chicago, along with the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge! and the hip hop centered film 8 Mile in 2002, is widely considered to be responsible for ushering a re-emergence of the musical film genre in the 21st century.[50] Following the success of Chicago, many movie musicals have been produced for theatrical release, with several adapted from stage productions for Broadway and London's West End, including Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Mamma Mia!, Nine, Les Misérables, Rock of Ages, The Last Five Years, Into the Woods, Cats, and more. The 2013 film Sunshine on Leith was also adapted from a stage production, originating with Scotland's Dundee Repertory Theatre.

Japanese rock band Buck-Tick named their 2010 album Razzle Dazzle after the film's song of the same name.[51]

The revived interest in musicals has also brought remakes or sequels to earlier films, including Beauty and the Beast in 2017 (a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated feature, itself adapted for 1994 Broadway), the 2018 films: Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (a sequel to 2008's Mamma Mia!), A Star Is Born (a fourth version of the film following earlier productions in 1937, 1954, and 1976) and Mary Poppins Returns (a sequel to 1964's Mary Poppins), the 2019 films: Aladdin (a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1992 animated feature, itself adapted for Broadway in 2011) and The Lion King (a photorealistic live-action adaptation of Disney's 1994 animated feature, itself adapted for Broadway in 1997), and The Little Mermaid itself adapted for Broadway in 2007. Notable original and biographical musical films have also been released to critical and commercial success since Chicago's run, including Walk the Line (2005), Once (2006), Enchanted (2007), La La Land (2016), Rocketman (2019), and Annette (2021). Other original and biographical musical films released to commercial success with mixed critical reception, includes Across the Universe (2007), The Greatest Showman (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Yesterday (2019), Aline (2020), and more.

Many of Chicago's cast and crew have gone on to work in succeeding musicals, including director Marshall (Nine, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns, The Little Mermaid), writer Condon (writer/director for Dreamgirls, director for Beauty and the Beast, writer for The Greatest Showman), costume designer Atwood (Sweeney Todd, Nine, Into the Woods), and actresses Zeta-Jones (Rock of Ages), Latifah (Hairspray), and Baranski (Mamma Mia!, Into the Woods).

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