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Choreographer-turned-director Bob Fosse (Cabaret, Lenny) turns the camera on himself in this nervy, sometimes unnerving 1979 feature, a nakedly autobiographical piece that veers from gritty drama to razzle-dazzle musical, allegory to satire. It's an indication of his bravura, and possibly his self-absorption, that Fosse (who also cowrote the script) literally opens alter ego Joe Gideon's heart in a key scene--an unflinching glimpse of cardiac surgery, shot during an actual open-heart procedure.
Roy Scheider makes a brave and largely successful leap out of his usual romantic lead roles to step into Gideon's dancing pumps, and supplies a plausible sketch of an extravagant, self-destructive, self-loathing creative dynamo, while Jessica Lange serves as a largely allegorical Muse, one of the various women that the philandering Gideon pursues (and usually abandons). Gideon's other romantic partners include Fosse's own protégé (and a major keeper of his choreographic style since his death), Ann Reinking, whose leggy grace is seductive both 'onstage' and off.
Fosse/Gideon's collision course with mortality, as well as his priapic obsession with the opposite sex, may offer clues into the libidinal core of the choreographer's dynamic, sexualized style of dance, but musical aficionados will be forgiven for fast-forwarding to cut out the self-analysis and focus on the music, period. At its best--as in the knockout opening, scored to George Benson's strutting version of 'On Broadway,' which fuses music, dance, and dazzling camera work into a paean to Fosse's hoofer nation--All That Jazz offers a sequence of classic Fosse numbers, hard-edged, caustic, and joyously physical. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Belongs in Every Broadway Musical Lover's Film Collection
Bob Fosse's thinly-veiled autobiographical homage is everything a movie musical should be -- lively, tuneful, funny and even poignant.
With a cast which includes the wonderfully sexy Roy Scheider of Jaws (Widescreen Anniversary Collector's Edition) fame, Fosse acolytes Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen, and a fabulous pre-plastic surgery Jessica Lange as the gorgeous, ever-present Angel of Death, this musical story of a genius Broadway director with a death-wish, is nothing short of mesmerizing. ... Read More
Rating: - Self-indulgent brilliance
Fosse's "All that Jazz" is one of my all time favorite movies and I don't generally enjoy big production dance movies. In this movie, Fosse, through his actor, Roy Scheider, gets to play himself with all his talent, weakness, brilliance, stupidy, self-indulgence...and...evil. He lets us feel the phrenetic pace of an overcharged life and he shows us the fears, along with the associated thick skin, that come along with being a choreographer and playwrite. Without an effort to justify himself, he shows his ... Read More
Rating: - Lotta singing, lotta dancing, a fair bit of drugs and sex... it's like life, only snazzier!
Or should that be jazzier? Very entertaining film, but it's not all fun and games. There's definitely some dark stuff here, this is no "Meet Me in Saint Louis" style musical. But the songs and dancing are great, the story and acting are great. If you haven't seen this before, you're in for a treat. A really original film with many great, memorable scenes.
Rating: - Awesome, in every sense of the word.
All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)
Even at the tender age of ten, I was already both a ravening cinephile and a hardcore music fan. Cabaret was one of my favorite movies as a youngster (and doesn't it strike you, too, as odd that I would be exposed to such a movie repeatedly at such a tender age?), so it seemed to me, at the time, that All That Jazz, Fosse's other huge musical blockbuster, was a natural. My parents, however, were not so sure; stills from the movie combined with it being rated R for ... Read More
Rating: - All That Jazz Rocks!
Seldom seen on TV, this is a rather dark view of behind-the-scenes Broadway. It's an autobiographical movie of the choreographer/director Bob Fosse, a man who had great career success but was less successful in his personal life. And, don't forget the fabulous musical numbers and Bob's patented, sexy, sensational dance numbers.
A "don't miss" for fans of Cabaret and Chicago.
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