Chicago is a 2002 musical comedy film about crime. It is based on a 1975 stage musical, which was created from a 1926 play. The movie shows the problems of fame, scandal, and dishonesty in Chicago during the 1920s. The film features a group of actors, including Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. The story follows Roxie Hart (Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones), two women who are in jail together in 1920s Chicago. Both women are murderers waiting for their trial. Roxie is a housewife, and Velma is a performer in a vaudeville act. They compete for fame to avoid being executed. The film was directed by Rob Marshall, who also choreographed it. The screenplay was written by Bill Condon, and the music was composed by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb.

The movie received praise for the acting. It won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture, which made it the first musical to win Best Picture since 1968. Catherine Zeta-Jones won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. Renée Zellweger won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, and Richard Gere won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Chicago was the tenth-highest-grossing film in the United States that year.

Plot

In 1924, vaudeville performer Velma Kelly performs ("Overture/ All That Jazz ") at The Onyx, a Chicago nightclub. The spotlight shows an empty space where Velma's missing sister should be, creating an awkward moment in their double act. Housewife Roxie Hart, who wants to become famous, watches Velma perform while waiting for Fred Casely, a furniture salesman. Roxie is having an affair with Casely because he promised to introduce her to the nightclub's manager. After the show, Velma is arrested for killing her husband and sister, who she discovered having an affair. Roxie is upset when Casely fails to introduce her to the manager.

A month later, Casely tells Roxie he lied about his connections to sleep with her but no longer wants to be involved. Angered, Roxie shoots him. She convinces her husband, Amos, to take blame for the murder, claiming she killed a burglar in self-defense. However, when proof of Roxie's affair is found, Amos tells the police Casely was already dead when he arrived home ("Funny Honey"). Roxie is arrested, and the District Attorney, Martin Harrison, says she may be executed by hanging.

At Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderess' Row, where she is supervised by the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton ("When You're Good to Mama"). Roxie learns about the other women there, including Velma, her idol, who refuses to be friends with her ("Cell Block Tango"). On Morton's advice, Roxie hires Velma's lawyer, Billy Flynn ("All I Care About"). Flynn and Roxie work with the press to change public opinion, portraying Roxie as a virtuous Southern woman corrupted by city life. Roxie claims she had an affair with Casely because Amos neglected her, but Casely attacked her when she chose to stay with Amos ("We Both Reached for the Gun"). The press supports her story, and Roxie becomes a celebrated figure ("Roxie"). Velma, upset by losing attention, tries to convince Roxie to join her act, but Roxie refuses.

When wealthy heiress Kitty Baxter is arrested for killing her husband and two mistresses, the press and Flynn focus on her. Roxie regains attention by claiming she is pregnant. The press ignores Amos ("Mister Cellophane"). To gain sympathy for Roxie, Flynn tells Amos the child is Casely's and suggests he divorce Roxie. Roxie decides to fire Flynn, believing she can win alone. However, when Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian woman on Murderess' Row who insists on her innocence, becomes the first woman in Cook County history to be executed by hanging, Roxie realizes the seriousness of her situation and rehires Flynn.

Flynn turns Roxie's trial into a media event ("Razzle Dazzle") with help from reporters and radio host Mary Sunshine. Flynn discredits witnesses, manipulates evidence, and stages a public reconciliation between Amos and Roxie when she claims the child is his. Mama and Velma find Roxie's diary, which contains harmful entries, and offer it to the prosecution in exchange for Velma's freedom. Flynn discredits the diary, suggesting it was written by DA Harrison, who planted it as evidence ("A Tap Dance"). Though Roxie is found not guilty, her fame fades when another woman-who-shot-her-husband kills her lawyer outside the courthouse. Flynn admits to Roxie he altered her diary to frame the DA and free both women. Amos is excited to be a father, but Roxie cruelly reveals she faked her pregnancy.

Roxie tries to build a vaudeville career with limited success ("Nowadays"). Velma, also struggling, suggests they perform together as a new double act featuring two murderesses. Roxie agrees when Velma points out they can perform despite their dislike for each other. They perform a show ("Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag"), receiving a standing ovation from an audience that includes Flynn, Morton, jurors, and other acquitted murderesses.

Cast

• Renée Zellweger plays Roxie Hart, a housewife who wants to become a vaudevillian. She is arrested for killing her dishonest lover, Fred Casely. Other actors who were considered for the role include Charlize Theron, Marisa Tomei, Christina Applegate, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Milla Jovovich, and Jennifer Aniston.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Velma Kelly, a confident vaudevillian who is arrested for killing her husband, Charlie, and her sister, Veronica, after catching them together.
• Richard Gere plays Billy Flynn, a dishonest, greedy lawyer who helps his clients become famous to gain public support. Michael Jackson was considered for the role, but Harvey Weinstein strongly opposed it because he believed too much attention would be on Jackson instead of the rest of the cast. John Travolta was offered the role but refused.
• Queen Latifah plays Matron "Mama" Morton, a dishonest but caring leader of the Cook County Jail.
• John C. Reilly plays Amos Hart, Roxie's simple-minded but loyal husband.
• Lucy Liu plays Kitty Baxter, a wealthy woman who briefly becomes more famous than Roxie and Velma after killing her husband and his two mistresses.
• Taye Diggs plays the bandleader, a mysterious and magical person who introduces each song.
• Colm Feore plays Martin Harrison, the prosecutor in both Roxie and Velma's court cases.
• Christine Baranski plays Mary Sunshine, a reporter who focuses on shocking news.
• Dominic West plays Fred Casely, Roxie's dishonest lover and murder victim.
• Mýa Harrison plays Mona, a prisoner who strangled her artist boyfriend, Al Lipschitz, after discovering he had multiple affairs.
• Deidre Goodwin plays June, a prisoner who stabbed her husband, Wilbur, ten times with a kitchen knife after he accused her of cheating with the milkman.
• Denise Faye plays Annie, a prisoner who poisoned her boyfriend, Ezekiel Young, with arsenic after learning he was a Mormon with six wives.
• Ekaterina Chtchelkanova plays Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian prisoner who claims she is innocent and only knows two English words: "not guilty." She is hanged despite this.
• Susan Misner plays Liz, a prisoner who shot her husband, Bernie, twice in the head after he refused to stop chewing gum.
• Jayne Eastwood plays Mrs. Borusewicz, the Harts' neighbor from across the hall.
• Chita Rivera plays Nickie, a prostitute. Rivera first performed the role of Velma in the Broadway musical Chicago in 1975; her appearance in the film is a short role.

Production

The film is based on the 1975 Broadway musical with the same name, which performed for 936 shows. A movie version of Chicago was planned as Bob Fosse's next project. Fosse had directed and choreographed the original 1975 Broadway production and had won an Oscar for directing the film version of Cabaret (1972). Although he died before completing his version, his unique jazz dance style is visible in the 2002 film, and he is credited in the film's ending. A simpler version of the musical in 1996 was more successful, with over 10,601 performances (as of December 3, 2023). This version holds records for the longest-running musical revival, the longest-running American musical on Broadway, and the second-longest-running show in Broadway history. Its success increased interest in the original 1975 production and led to the creation of the 2002 film, which includes influences from both the original and the 1996 revival.

The original musical's songs were staged as old-fashioned stage performances. The film keeps this style but shows them as scenes imagined by the character Roxie, while real-life scenes are filmed with a rough, realistic look. The musical was based on a 1926 Broadway play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a journalist who was inspired by two real-life murder trials she covered in Chicago. The play, directed by George Abbott and starring Francine Larrimore and Juliette Crosby, ran for 172 shows at the Music Box Theatre. It was adapted into a silent film within a year, in which the real-life character Belva Gaertner appeared. The 2002 film was produced by Miramax Films and The Producers Circle in partnership with Kallis Productions, a German company. The 1942 film Chicago, also known as Chicago Gal, was directed by William A. Wellman and starred Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, and George Montgomery. This film was based on the 1926 play.

Principal photography for the 2002 film took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from December 2001 to April 2002. The courthouse scene was filmed at Osgoode Hall. Other scenes were shot at Queen's Park, the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery, Casa Loma, the Elgin Theatre, Union Station, the Canada Life Building, the Danforth Music Hall, and the Old City Hall.

Music

Several songs from the musical's original score were taken out of the film, mainly because the musical numbers were things Roxie imagines. "Tap Dance," "A Little Bit of Good," "I Can't Do It Alone" (reprise), "My Own Best Friend," "I Know a Girl," "Me and My Baby," and "When Velma Takes the Stand" were removed. "Class" was filmed and recorded for the soundtrack album but is a deleted scene on the DVD. It is also part of a longer version of the film shown on NBC in 2005. An instrumental version of "Me and My Baby" plays in the film where Roxie enjoys renewed fame after claiming she is pregnant.

• "Overture / All That Jazz" – Velma, Company
• "Funny Honey" – Roxie and Amos
• "When You're Good to Mama" – Mama
• "Cell Block Tango" – Velma, Cell Block Girls
• "All I Care About" – Billy, Chorus Girls
• "We Both Reached for the Gun" – Billy, Roxie, Mary, Reporters
• "Roxie" – Roxie, Chorus Boys
• "I Can't Do It Alone" – Velma
• "Chicago After Midnight" (score)
• "Mister Cellophane" – Amos
• "Razzle Dazzle" – Billy, Company
• "Class" (deleted scene) – Velma and Mama
• "A Tap Dance" – Billy
• "Nowadays" – Roxie
• "Nowadays / Hot Honey Rag" – Roxie, Velma
• "I Move On" (end credits) – Roxie, Velma
• "All That Jazz (reprise)" (end credits) – Velma, Company

Release

Chicago had its world premiere in Los Angeles on December 10, 2002. In North America, the film began showing in a limited number of theaters on December 27, 2002, with 77 theaters. Over the following weeks, the number of theaters increased until it reached a peak of 2,701 theaters by the weekend of March 28, 2003, which was the first weekend after the Academy Awards.

Chicago was released on DVD in Region 1 (including the United States, Canada, and U.S. territories) by Buena Vista Home Entertainment (under the Miramax Home Entertainment banner) on August 19, 2003. The DVD was available in both full screen and widescreen formats. A two-disc "Razzle Dazzle" Edition was released on December 20, 2005. Later, the film was released on Blu-ray format in January 2007 and in an updated version in May 2011. This release includes a full-length audio commentary by director Marshall and screenwriter Condon. It also features a deleted musical number called "Class," performed by Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah.

Reception

The film Chicago earned $170.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $136.1 million in other regions worldwide. Together, the movie made $306.8 million globally. At the time, this was the highest amount ever earned by a film that never reached the top two spots in the weekly box office charts in North America (the United States and Canada), where it reached the third position. Worldwide, Chicago was the highest-grossing live action musical, with $306 million, a record later surpassed by Mamma Mia!.

On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 260 critics gave the film positive reviews. The site’s summary states: "A lively and energetic version of the Broadway musical, Chicago impresses with its visual style and also includes unexpected depth and humor." Metacritic, which calculates scores using a weighted average, gave the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 39 critics, which means "universal acclaim." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on a scale from A+ to F.

The film’s cast received praise for their performances. Tim Robey, a reviewer for The Daily Telegraph, called Chicago "the best screen musical in 30 years." He noted that it took time for audiences to accept the return of the movie musical format. Robey also wrote that the film made the most use of one advantage that cinema has over stage performances: the ability to create an ongoing celebration of simultaneous action through dance and music. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "big, brassy fun." Some reviews, however, mentioned that the film was too simplified in its storytelling, and a few critics had minor concerns about the director’s influence on the film’s style.

Legacy

The film Chicago is often given credit for helping bring back the musical film genre in the 21st century, especially after the release of Moulin Rouge! (2001) and 8 Mile (2002).

A Japanese rock band called Buck-Tick named their 2010 album Razzle Dazzle after a song from the film with the same name.

In February 2025, The Washington Post listed Chicago as number 2 on its list of "The 25 Best Movie Musicals of the 21st Century." The article described the film as "a perfect marriage of theatrical flair to the power of moviemaking."

In July 2025, Chicago was included in the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," where it finished at number 134.