Musical follows the dreams and ambitions of a group of men and women auditioning for a Broadway musical.
At the chorus line monologue sheila movie#
This movie rightly focuses on the dancing – and that is consistently superb! In fact, "electrifying" is the word! But it's rare to find a performer who is equally deft in both fields (no-one would claim that either Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire were great vocalists). I'm more concerned that the singing (with a couple of notable exceptions) was at best mediocre. I do agree that too much attention in the movie script is given to the Mike Douglas/Alyson Reed plot and that this swings the audience's attention away from other hopefuls in the chorus line, but nonetheless, Miss Reed (here making her screen debut) is a charming lass and fully deserves this extra attention. True, Michael Douglas does hand in a rather abrasive performance that tends to throw the movie off-center, but that's the way the movie was obviously written and cast. All Attenborough did was to direct, and very competently (and at times quite inventively) too. It was Schulman who made all the alterations that inflame most people who compare the two productions. Although Attenborough copped all the blame, the fault (if there was indeed a fault) in transferring this mighty stage success to the screen should have been sheeted home to Arnold Shulman instead. COMMENT: Following their joint success on "Gandhi" (1982), director Richard Attenborough and photographer Ron Taylor again collaborated three years later on "A Chorus Line", this time with considerably less critical success. But only eight of them are to be selected. SYNOPSIS: A crowd of young hopefuls try out for a Broadway chorus line. And now in 2021 it is available online via streaming services. Edit: May 2019 - I watched it again on DVD, very nice to see it again. Those who rate this film version of "A Chorus Line" very low simply are showing themselves as very poor critics. So, anyone who is a fan of musicals, and who thought the stage version was a "10", then the film is probably a "7", or maybe a "6" at the lowest. When Morales does "Nothing", or when the three girls do "At The Ballet", this film version has the same impact as the stage version does, even if the singing is often mediocre when compared to the Broadway cast. For a film version I would have much preferred a good film of the actual stage production, as has been done with the great "Cats." However, they made the movie, and it does not stink as some seem to want to make everyone believe. The singing and dancing were of course top notch. It was, and still is, the most memorable musical experience for me.
In 1981 I had the pleasure of seeing my first musical on Broadway during a week long business trip that December. Overall, has its moments but a huge disappointment. Crucial parts are rushed while the not-so-essential parts drag. And personally I didn't like Audrey Landers, she was pretty yes but her dancing and such left you feeling someone else could have done the role and better. The dialogue that remains is largely uneven and no longer humorous or touching, while the choreography is lacking as a consequence of being changed- why change the original choreography when it was so good? Attenborough's direction isn't great either, I love Attenborough as a director, but his heart didn't seem to be in it here. However, the story loses its dynamic intensity and captivity with the flashbacks and becomes disjointed as a consequence. The cinematography, costumes and sets are nice to look at, the songs and score are great, Michael Douglas is good as the show's producer and Alyson Reed is touching as Cassie. A Chorus Line does have its good moments though. What happened? Now I am not saying this is the worst musical ever made, that dishonour for me goes to The Wiz(I haven't yet seen Mame but I've heard it's worse), though that did have moments, but as an adaptation of a stage musical this is the most disappointing one I have seen, considering how superb the stage musical is. This is the same director who directed the wonderful underrated Cry Freedom, the extraordinarily touching Shadowlands and the magnificent Gandhi. Sorry, but I find it a little hard to believe that Richard Attenborough directed this film.
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