Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
The song-and-dance numbers are calisthenic but unspectacular, with too much fast cutting, and the tone throughout is harmlessly facetious.
– Peter Rainer,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
24 Feb 2013
rotten:
The net effect of the incessant dazzle is depressing.
– Stanley Kauffmann,
The New Republic,
24 Feb 2013
fresh:
Rob Marshall's screen version of the near-venerable show looks great, in its razzly-dazzly neo-Fosse way, and sounds good, especially when Renee Zellweger's gorgeous Roxie Hart is singing her heart out.
– Joe Morgenstern,
Wall Street Journal,
12 Feb 2014
fresh:
With performers as good as these and the freshness of Bill Condon's screenplay and Marshall's direction, there's really very little wrong with Chicago. What it lacks is something intangible -- heat.
– Ben Nuckols,
Associated Press,
12 Feb 2014
fresh:
As sentimental as a plywood casket, Chicago has satirical bite and a mean wit that somehow never obscures its characters' unlikely likability.