All That Jazz (1979)
89%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: Won 4 Oscars
11 wins & 14 nominations total
All That Jazz is a film that is both a celebration and a critique of the world of show business. Bob Fosse’s direction is a masterclass in audacious editing and his self-portrait is a tour de force that is seamlessly impersonated by Roy Scheider. The film wears its alienation proudly, with a quivering, pulsating, dynamic, excessive and flawed style that is both savagely witty and excruciating. It takes chances and is an exciting rollercoaster ride that deserves its place as one of the greatest American films ever made. It’s the opposite of a vanity project, and while the music may lack personality, the film itself shines bright with its rapid, speed-freak cutting and passionate psychological striptease. All in all, it’s a plausible milestone in the evolution of the Hollywood film that will leave you with an obscene fascination for the world of show business.
All That Jazz is a wild ride that takes you on a journey through the highs and lows of show business. It’s like a backstage pass to the madness that goes on behind the scenes of a Broadway show. The editing is so fast-paced, it’s like you’re on a speed-freak rollercoaster, but in a good way. Roy Scheider gives a career-peak performance as the tortured genius director, and Bob Fosse’s direction is both self-indulgent and savagely witty. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re a fan of musicals and want to see something that takes chances, then this is the film for you.
Production Company(ies)
1+2 Seisaku Iinkai Atom Films, Atom Films,
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Kaufman Astoria Studios – 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1979
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 3m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 1, 1979 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 3, 2004
Genre(s)
Drama/Musical
Keyword(s)
starring Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Cliff Gorman, Ben Vereen, directed by Bob Fosse, written by Robert Alan Arthur and Bob Fosse, drama, musical, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Bruce McCabe, Gary Arnold, Noel Murray, Kim Newman, Frank Rich, Dave Kehr, Taylor Baker, Leonard Klady, Grant Watson, David Lamble, Gena Radcliffe, MPAA rating R, producer Robert Alan Arthur, 20th Century Fox, surround sound, Dolby Stereo, flat aspect ratio, Joe Gideon, Angelique, Kate Jagger, Audrey Paris, Davis Newman, O’Connor Flood
Worldwide gross: $37,823,676
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $164,484,317
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 796
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 17,937,221
US/Canada gross: $37,823,676
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $164,484,317
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 467
US/Canada opening weekend: $86,229
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $374,985
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,475
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $12,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $52,184,558
Production budget ranking: 760
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $28,101,384
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $84,198,375
ROI to date (est.): 105%
ROI ranking: 916
Jessica Lange – Angelique
Ann Reinking – Kate Jagger
Leland Palmer – Audrey Paris
Cliff Gorman – Davis Newman
Ben Vereen – O’Connor Flood
Director(s)
Bob Fosse
Writer(s)
Robert Alan Arthur, Bob Fosse
Producer(s)
Robert Alan Arthur
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 4 Oscars
11 wins & 14 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Art Direction Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Costume Design Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (6)
This is a plausible milestone in the evolution of the Hollywood film, a quivering, pulsating, dynamic, excessive and flawed film that wears its alienation proudly where its heart should be.
April 27, 2018
Bruce McCabe
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
By the time the film is over, the movie has degenerated with a jaundiced vengeance. Fosse’s sour, grandstanding cynicism imposed an intolerable burden of self-pity on his talent, our compassion and the tradition of the backstage musical.
August 4, 2015
Gary Arnold
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
All That Jazz is one of the most self-indulgent movies ever made-but blessedly so.
September 8, 2014 | Rating: 4.5/5
Noel Murray
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
Savagely witty on backstage life and audaciously edited.
August 12, 2008 | Rating: 5/5
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Though Scheider is a wry, sensitive actor, he soon gets lost in the vulgar theatrics.
August 12, 2008
Frank Rich
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Almost every scene is excruciating (and a few are appalling), yet the film stirs an obscene fascination with its rapid, speed-freak cutting and passionate psychological striptease.
August 12, 2008
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Episode 40: The Dead Don’t Die / Birds of Passage / All That Jazz
October 4, 2021 | Rating: 94/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
It’s a film that takes chances, an exciting rollercoaster ride that deserves its personal chapter in the art of film-making.
August 19, 2021
Leonard Klady
Winnipeg Free Press
This is one of the greatest American films ever made.
February 16, 2021 | Rating: 10/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
A tour de force self-portrait by the brilliant writer-director-choreographer Bob Fosse, as seamlessly impersonated in a career-peak turn from Roy Scheider.
June 8, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
It’s the opposite of a vanity project.
January 18, 2020
Gena Radcliffe
The Spool
The music lacks personality and it never shines too bright. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 12, 2019
Jesús Fernández Santos
El Pais (Spain)…
Plot
Joe Gideon is a Broadway director, choreographer and filmmaker, he in the process of casting the chorus and staging the dance numbers for his latest Broadway show, starring his ex-wife Audrey Paris in what is largely a vanity project for her in playing a role several years younger than her real age, and editing a film he directed on the life of stand-up comic Davis Newman. Joe’s professional and personal lives are intertwined, he a chronic philanderer, having slept with and had relationships with a series of dancers in his shows, Victoria Porter, who he hired for the current show despite she not being the best dancer, in the former category, and Kate Jagger, his current girlfriend, in the latter category. That philandering has led to relationship problems, with Audrey during their marriage, and potentially now with Kate who wants a committed relationship with Joe largely in not wanting the alternative of entering the dating world again. Joe also lives a hard and fast life, he chain smoking, drinking heavily, listening to hard driving classical music and popping uppers to keep going. In addition to pressures from investors and meeting film deadlines above and beyond his own self-induced hard life, he is teetering on the brink physically and emotionally. With Kate, Audrey, and his and Audrey’s teenage daughter Michelle looking over him as best they can, Joe flirts with “Angelique” in the process, he potentially succumbing to her if he doesn’t listen to them or what his body is telling him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Roy Scheider delivers a defining performance as the flawed and death-obsessed director-choreographer Joe Gideon.
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