All That Jazz (1979)
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An obsessive director balances the demands of a Broadway musical and a Hollywood film while grappling with his own mortality.
The story
Joe Gideon is a theater director and choreographer who is a driven workaholic, an alcoholic, and a womanizer. He is currently attempting to balance the staging of his latest Broadway musical, NY/LA, while simultaneously overseeing the editing of a Hollywood film he directed called The Stand-Up. As he struggles with the demands of both productions, he navigates a complex personal life involving his ex-wife, his girlfriend, and his daughter. Amidst the frantic energy of the theater and the film studio, Gideon's lifestyle and mounting pressures begin to take a toll on his health, leading to a confrontation with his own mortality.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Joe Gideon, a workaholic theater director and choreographer, is juggling the production of a Broadway musical, NY/LA, and the editing of a film, The Stand-Up. His lifestyle includes heavy drinking, smoking, and frequent dalliances. While he faces pushback from his ex-wife, Audrey, and deals with the pressures of his dual roles, he also experiences a mystical connection with an 'angel of death' named Angelique. During a rehearsal, his demands on the dancers lead to a controversial, highly sexualized number. During a table-read, Joe suffers severe chest pains and is hospitalized with angina. Despite his initial attempts to ignore the symptoms, he eventually collapses and is ordered to rest. While hospitalized, he continues his lifestyle, but his health deteriors until he suffers a massive coronary event. As he undergoes surgery, the producers realize they can profit from his death via insurance. In a series of hallucinatory dream sequences, Joe confronts his past and his behavior. He eventually experiences a final, grand musical performance in his mind, where he finds a sense of peace and acceptance before ultimately passing away.
- First release year
- 1979
- Runtime (minutes)
- 123
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Bob Fosse
- Writers
- Robert Alan Aurthur · writer; Bob Fosse · writer
- Cast and characters
- Roy Scheider · Joe Gideon; Jessica Lange · Katie Jagger; Ann Reinking · Audrey; Leland Palmer · Audrey Paris; Cliff Gorman · The Stand-Up
- Genres
- musical; drama; fantasy
- Themes
- mortality; ego; artistic obsession
- Tone and mood
- frenetic; hallucinatory; melodramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- semi-autobiographical; musical; drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- Based on aspects of Bob Fosse's life and career, and inspired by the film Lenny and the musical Chicago.
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, praised for its choreography and Roy Scheider's performance, though some critics labeled it as 'egomaniacal' or 'self-indulgent'.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 13
- Awards and nominations
- Palme d'Or · Cannes Film Festival · 1980 · Won
- Production trivia
- Stanley Kubrick called it the best film he had ever seen.; It was the last musical nominated for Best Picture until 1992.; The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2001.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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