All That Jazz
By Kit Macdonald
1979's All That Jazz is Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical masterpiece, in which the great choreographer, dancer, actor, filmmaker, and stage director blends backstage musical spectacle with an unflinching examination of ambition, addiction and death. Roy Scheider stars as Joe Gideon, a brilliant but self-destructive theatre director and choreographer juggling rehearsals, film editing and an exhausting personal life while pushing his body to its limits. As his health deteriorates, reality merges with fantasy in increasingly surreal sequences, culminating in a series of unforgettable musical set pieces that transform his fears and regrets into dazzling performance.
Drawing heavily on the personal experiences of Fosse, who died relatively young less than a decade later, the film is both a celebration and critique of artistic obsession. Its dazzling choreography, razor-sharp editing and inventive visual style redefined the movie musical, and Scheider delivers the performance of his career. One of cinema's boldest explorations of the price of genius and the destructive allure of living on the edge.