All That Jazz | 
| Director: Bob Fosse
Actors: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, Cliff Gorman
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $4.02
You Save: $5.96 (60%)
New (4) Used (21) Collectible (1) from $4.02
Rating:  121 reviews
Sales Rank: 28411
Format: Color, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
UPC: 454301879702
EAN: 0024543018797
ASIN: B00003CX8U
Theatrical Release Date: 1979
Release Date: August 19, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
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 protege (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
Description
Part tragic, part comic, this outrageous look at life in the fast lane in the Academy Award-winning musical about Bob Fosse's excessive life in show business. Played by Roy Scheider, Fosse's alter-ego drives himself over the edge and soon finds he is caught between a recurring fantasy about his death and the reality of a near-death experience. Dazzlingly presented, this electrifying story about the perils of pushing yourself too hard is filled with Fosse's legendary song-and-dance choreography.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 116 more reviews...
 Fasten your seatbelts June 30, 2009
V. Nagy (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first saw this movie when I was in my teens. I've watched it many times since, and it is still one of my all time favorite movies. People who complain about this movie are invariably the ones who saw Chicago - that watered down, vanilla imitation of Fosse and expect something similar. This is not it. This is pure unadulterated Bob Fosse. All That Jazz is electrifying, impudent, ill-mannered, shocking, and heart breaking. It's a work of genius, not for the faint of heart, or blushing flowers.
 Jazz hands! June 6, 2009
Kona (Emerald City)
Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse wrote and directed this movie based on his own life. Fosse is represented by the character Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) and the film is a series of surreal, kaleidoscopic, frenzied vignettes which show Joe's obsession with and love for his work, his womanizing, and his drug use.
Scheider gives a dazzling performance and is a talented dancer. Nominated for nine Oscars and winner of four, the movie features non-stop dancing in the energetic, sensual Fosse style, but sadly, no music from his Broadway musicals. It would be of particular interest to dancers and Broadway show fans.
Lover of Musicals April 14, 2009
Diajanese (Chicago, Il)
I absolutely love this video. It took me back to highschool days. The quality is better than on the movie screen and the sound quality was superb. If you are a fan of musical, this is a must to add to your collection. I found myself singing and dancing with the actors. My video arrived in a timely manner in excellent condition.
Entertainment Plus April 4, 2009
R. Swanson (New Mexico)
There is so much to love in this film! I was amazed to realize that it was made so long ago--it's not in the least dated, and I can only wonder at the impact it must have made at the time.
On the surface level, it's a great show! The dance numbers are spectacular. The dancers are superb. The costumes, music, staging---all of it is first class entertainment. The erotic airline number is wonderfully sexy, as well as lyrically beautiful and even funny. The home-time number with Gideon's girlfriend and daughter is heartwarming. The closing "hello death" splashy number is quite amazing and makes death look, well not-so-bad.
What gives this already great show the extra power is the fact that it is such a raw autobiography of Fosse, himself. He looks at his life with amazing honesty and judges himself as, in the words of the Ben Vereen song, "a man who allowed himself to be adored but not loved." Wow..not too many folks have that kind of self awareness, and then to mount it on stage in such a flashy way, is an act of incredible daring.
I heard the great Anna Russell in an opera spoof say that "anything is ok if you sing it." It seem like this work of art, which it is, may be Fosse's way of making his life, the good, bad and ugly of, into something beautiful. That works for me, anyway.
The cast is first rate. Roy Sheider is wonderfully charismatic and charming and makes us love Joe Gideon, the Fosse alter-ego. The dancers who played the three women in his life: his ex-wife, daughter and girlfriend are equally wonderful.
I highly recommend this film. I find a lot of recent Broadway musicals really annoying but this one is a beauty.
C'mon Babe Why Don't We Paint the Town? And All That Jazz February 1, 2009
John S. Gamble (San Diego, CA)
Frenetic, dazzling fever dream, All That jazz is a sensory feast.
Likened to Fellini's 8 1/2, due to its autobiographical nature, the film depicts a harried period in Fosse's life. He was cutting the film "Lenny," at the same time he was directing the musical "Chicago" on Broadway, while suffering from exhaustion.
The scenes which intercut between his open-heart surgery and dance- fantasy sequence are some of the most dazzling of his career.
The back story shows him working in a strip club as a boy, foreshadowing his reckless, philandering behavior careening into drug abuse, sexual compulsion and no-holds-barred excess.
One especially incisive sequence depicts the producers of "Chicago" cold-heartedly discussing the positive financial ramifications of the director's death should he fail to make it through his heart surgery.
Fosse's tour de force, All That Jazz was one of the top films of the late 70's. Unfortunately, it was one of his last as he died a few short years after this masterpiece.
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