Almost an hour into it...

It's pretty sleazy. I'm watching it now for the first time. Not sexy, just sleazy...like a 'guy with mirrors on his shoes'-sleazy. Yuck. Wish I was a better writer, can't really describe it. I know what I like though, and this isn't it. Will probably finish watching it, just to maybe get some idea why it's such an award-winner.

Like the dance numbers from other musicals much better (heck, even Sweet Charity film).

Martha
Austin, Texas

May the Force be with you!

I found it boring and stopped it at about fifty minutes. I hate musicals so I don't know why I bothered.

Catherine zeta-jones is pretty hot ??? when she dances it wins her an Oscar. She needs to dance more often

The period in which it's set was generally a very sleazy time... It's a very well written musical and very well directed.
You can't forget that the 20's, women were just starting to find their freedom. Hence the revealing outfits and such.

It would be hard to parody and pillory two sleazy targets - media and the legal system - without depicting, y'know, sleaze.

That's the point of Chicago, from the 1926 play through all its subsequent incarnations: depicting and mocking sleaze.

Chicago without sleaze would be like Spinal Tap without music. There'd be no reason to make it.

_______________

Nothing to see here, move along.

This movie is based on real women who were imprisoned for killing lovers in 1920s Chicago. The true stories were quite "sleezy" (salacious). Tons of sex and violence. The author of the original play meant it to be a biting satire of the lack of morals during that period--she was one of the reporters for the Chicago Tribune who covered the trials of the women Roxy And Velma are based on (Mary Sunshine represents her). Many of the supporting characters in the movie are also based on real people (reporters, lawyers, politicians, and fellow inmates) that played some role during this real life drama.