All That Jazz (1979)

This is the semi-autobiographical musical story of Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider), a legendary choreographer/director struggling with various addictions as he juggles developing a new stage musical and editing a film he has directed.  And it was directed by legendary choreographer/director Bob Fosse (Cabaret, Lenny) who at the time was dealing with many of the struggles when he wasn't winning multiple Tony Awards and Oscars.  It was a true passion project which also attracted a passionate response as it did well at the box office, received mass acclaim, and was also nominated for multiple Oscars including for Best Picture.  Scheider was also nominated for Best Actor that year, leading a very talented cast including Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Cliff Gorman, Ben Vereen, and Jessica Lange.  Jam-packed with several sequences which can be described as sad, sexy, sordid, and joyous, it was quite the original cinematic experience....IT'S SHOWTIME FOLKS!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

ALL THAT JAZZ - 1979

Directed by Bob Fosse         

Starring Roy Scheider, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Jessica Lange, Erzsebet Foldi, Deborah Gaffner, Anthony Holland, Max Wright, David Margulies, William LeMassena, John Lithgow, Cliff Gorman, Michael Tolan, Irene Kane, Kathryn Doby, Robert Hitt, Sue Paul, Keith Gordon, and Ben Vereen

Genre: Semi-Autobiographical Musical (Audio clip)

I've been wanting to rewatch this for a while and it's been tough to find - finally found it on Tubi...with commercials but unedited. And I mean...UNEDITED - this film is possibly around ten minutes too long but it's a ride for sure! Playing obvious Bob Fosse stand-in Joseph Gideon who is perpetually smoking, sweating, and taking pills… Roy Scheider is genuinely amazing. He's really elevating some potentially dicey material with pure chops which bring a sadness, humor, selfishness, and humanity to every moment which calls for it. 

The singular talent driving this of course is director/choreographer Bob Fosse who is pulling off stuff here with his cameras, sound mixing, and editing that feels like it's 20 years ahead of its time. It goes without saying that the dance sequences are mind-blowingly good....but not only in how well-choreographed they are but how well they flow on the screen. 

Speaking of which, the late great Ann Reinking (who only passed away a few years ago) steals every one of her scenes as Kate, Joseph's long-suffering dancer girlfriend who's acutely aware of how much he runs around on her. She's just got such an expressive face and aided with some pointed dialogue at points, her performance sort of becomes the heart of the movie. Reinking (who was apparently more of a stage actress) didn't act in a ton of movies which is kind a shame because she had undeniable presence - as a kid of the '80's, I always first remembered her from the 1982 film version of Annie where she played the sweet-natured assistant to Daddy Warbucks, Grace. 🤗

The overall story outline itself - sort of in the non-linear format of a semi-autobiographical feature-length obituary (involving the apparition of Gideon's first wife played by Jessica Lange) - had been told before AND since but never with dance sequences like this. ;) Does it kinda go off the rails a bit towards the end? Indeed thanks to an extended fantastical dance number sometimes cross-cut with real footage of heart surgery 🥴) featuring a DAZZLING Ben Vereen which mostly works but is presented to the audience with a beat-you-over-the-head lack of subtlety that might even make Baz Luhrnan a bit envious. :o 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Just over an hour into the movie, we get an impromptu number from Gideon's on-screen daughter and girlfriend (played respectively by the adorable Erzsebet Foldi and the truly LUMINOUS Ann Reinking) which feels like a complete tonal shift yet also fits well within the context of the story. The song is "Everything Old Is New Again" and it's an utter delight seeing these two singing and scatting around Gideon's oversized multi-story living room...the joy on-screen is just infectious as you can not only see it on their faces but Scheider's grizzled mug. You can see it on his face just how humbled (and a bit ashamed) he feels by this genuinely sweet display of affection from the two ladies in his life who deserve a lot more than he's been giving them - even compared with the hyper-emotional finale, it's the most affecting moment of the film. (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Now I’m gonna correct a mistake I just made earlier and I left it in there, I guess, to make a point.  Jessica Lange plays Angelique who is the apparition which Scheider’s Joe periodically cuts back to in a mystical framing device throughout the movie….they have brief asides which more often than not focus on acknowledging Joe’s bad behavior, she’s kind of a Ghost of Christmas Past for him as a character.  I had THOUGHT that she was a women in his life, possibly an ex-wife or former love given their interactions….I was wrong apparently as she is cited specifically as the “Angel of Death.”  Ok….now that was relatively early in Lange’s career as she was 29 at the time of filming and from what I understand, the main reason Fosse cast her was because of how luminous she looked on-screen, no arguments there.

But honestly for some one who would go on to be one of THE most talented and acclaimed actresses of her generation – she was just a few years away from winning the first of TWO Oscars for previous episode Tootsie – I’m not only unsure of what the purpose of her character was but also bottom line, Lange just isn’t given much to do here.  We already have an ex-wife character of his – Audry played very well by Leland Palmer – who is often on-hand to call out Joe’s bad behavior PLUS his current girlfriend played by Ann Reinking PLUS aspiring actress/dancer Victoria played by Deborah Geffner whom we witness Joe carry on an affair with and also somewhat emotionally abuse as one of his most recent cast members. You have so many female characters here for Joe to bounce off in this way providing a sorta-running commentary on his dickishness…so honestly outside of one admittedly powerful closing shot of Angelique welcoming Joe to death, her character just feels kind of redundant and at the end of the day, Lange just feels under-utilized. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

One stand-out HAS to be a startling number "Take Off With Us" about half-way through within the rehearsal process featuring about a dozen increasingly disrobed dancers of various genders and sexualities - its gets pretty provocative. 🫣 As the tempo of the music picks up, we just see a cornucopia of pelvic thrusts, exposed nipples, and glistening ass-cheeks....resulting in one producer whispering to another on the side with THE comic understatement of the movie: 

"I THINK we just lost the family audience...." 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

As phenomenal as SO much of the direction is here, I didn’t completely agree with every direction made by Bob Fosse.  However from an acting standpoint, Scheider is not only unassailable going in a lot of wild directions with this character….and it’s kind of crazy too in that with this being a musical, he actually does minimal singing OR dancing.  Regardless, he completely commands the screen for the entire two hour runtime, presenting a warts-and-all portrayal of an artist who is not only addicted to various substances whether they be nicotine, seconal, or Dexedrine but is simply starved for instant gratification non-stop! (Audio clip) 

Just looking back at this year’s Oscar race, previous episode and Best Picture winner Kramer Vs. Kramer remains an all-time favorite of mine….but I kinda wonder if he deserved the Best Actor Oscar for this over Dustin Hoffman.  And this just capped off ONE hell of a decade for this Orange, New Jersey native…..even though he wasn’t always the stars of these films, he left an impression in each and every one of them: Klute, The French Connection, The Seven-Ups, Jaws, and previous episodes Marathon Man, Sorcerer, AND this, just an incredible filmography!  For once again proving that he deserves a spot on the Mount Rushmore of Actors of the 1970's - alongside Pacino, Deniro, and Hoffman – Roy Scheider is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Thanks to across-the-board strong performances, great music, and next-level editing from Alan Heim (who deservedly won an Oscar for his work here) Bob Fosse's cinematic magnum opus still remains an impressive achievement overall which earns its place as one of the definitive films of the 1970's!

Streaming on tubi

And that ends another IT’S SHOWTIME FOLKS review!