Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity¹, scandal, and corruption² in Jazz Age Chicago. The film stars Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Catherine Zeta-Jones also featuring Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, and Mya Harrison. Directed and choreographed³ by Rob Marshall, and adapted by screenwriter Bill Condon.

 

Everyone loves a legend, but in Chicago, there's only room for one. Velma Kelley (Zeta-Jones) burns in the spotlight⁴ as a nightclub sensation. When she shoots her philandering⁵ husband, she lands on Chicago's famed murderess row, retains Chicago's slickest lawyer, Billy Flynn (Gere), and is the center of the town's most notorious murder case, only increasing her celebrity.

 

Roxie Hart (Zellweger), seduced⁶ by the city's promise of style and adventure, dreams of singing and dancing her way to stardom. When her abusive lover tries to walk out on her, she too ends up in prison. Billy recognizes a made-for-tabloids story, and postpones⁷ Velma's court date to take on Roxie's case. Infamy⁸ is Roxie's ticket to stardom. Billy turns her crime of passion into celebrity headlines, and in this town, where murder is a form of entertainment; she becomes a bona-fide star—much to Velma's chagrin⁹.

 

As Roxie fashions herself as America's sweetheart, Velma has more than a few surprises in store, and the two women stop at nothing to outdo each other in their obsessive¹⁰ pursuit of fame and celebrity.

 

Chicago was produced by American companies Miramax Films and The Producers Circle in association with the German company Kallis Productions. Chicago was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The courthouse scene was shot in Osgoode Hall. Other scenes were filmed at Queen's Park, former Gooderham and Worts Distillery, Casa Loma, the Elgin Theatre, Union Station, the Canada Life Building, the Danforth Music Hall, and at the Old City Hall.

 

Tim Robey, writer for The Daily Telegraph in the United Kingdom, labeled Chicago as "The best screen musical for 30 years." He also stated that it has taken a "three-step tango for us to welcome back the movie musical as a form." Robey said "This particular Chicago makes the most prolific¹¹ use it possibly can out of one specific advantage the cinema has over the stage when it comes to song and dance: it's a sustained celebration of parallel montage." Roger Ebert called it "Big, brassy fun".

 

Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture. The film was critically lauded¹², and was the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver in 1969.

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