BEFORE: I still have a few movie sins that I have to atone for - and one of them involves this film. I sort of half-watched it when I was 13 or 14, it aired unedited on a local Boston UHF station (believe it or not, they also showed "My Tutor" uncut) and I tuned in just to see some boobies. So I need to watch it again, as an adult (sort of) this time - it fits nicely here, going from a film about the discos of the 1970's to the Broadway musicals of the same era. And linking from "54", Mike Myers was in "View From the Top" with Gwyneth Paltrow, who was in "Hush" with Jessica Lange (last seen in "Rob Roy"), playing the mysterious Angelique.
THE PLOT: Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid life of Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider), a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
AFTER: Well, it seems like Mr. Fosse had some sins of his own to confess to - his stand-in, played by Roy Scheider (last seen in "The Russia House") is a drinker, pill-popper, and skirt chaser - juggling a wife, an ex-wife, and several girlfriends, most of whom are dancers in his productions. On the side, he's also editing a film about a stand-up comedian, in the vein of Lenny Bruce or George Carlin.
It's a peek inside the creative process, but without the nuts and bolts of it - it would have been nice to see WHAT inspired the dance routines, rather than just seeing a flash of insight, and the end result. But what the film gets right is what it takes to be a director - you need big ideas, the confidence to pitch them, and the ego to believe that they're good ones. I was just explaining to someone the other day why I'm not a director, as I learned in film school that I didn't have big ideas, or the necessary confidence. I'm told I have an ego, but that still means I'm only 1 for 3.
Even when he's given a really crappy musical number about flight attendants to work into his show, Gideon comes up with a way to "Fosse" it up, lending new sexual meanings to lines like "come on board", "grab a seat" and "sit back and relax". This is then followed by an often-imitated (Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted Snake" video) but never-duplicated nearly-nude dance number that fell one step shy of an on-camera orgy, shockingly pairing men with men, women with women - closing the blinds and blowing people's minds.
I see the scene in context now, and it's got a completely different meaning from when I was 14. It's there to show how this man wants to push the boundaries, challenge the audience, plus put some asses in the seats with a little (OK, a lot of) tittilation.
But that's the play-within-the-play, what about the movie itself? It breaks nearly all of my rules, since it's got an unsympathetic main character, jumps around in time quite liberally, and has a lot of showy dance numbers. The entire last quarter of the film is one big musical sequence that takes place inside Gideon's mind as he lies in the hospital - it shouldn't all work, but somehow it does. The ending is sad, but you have to admit it's a truthful one. Somehow dying becomes the most honest, sympathetic and, oddly, glamorous thing this man has ever done.
NITPICK POINT: Being a film editor is a singular skill, and so is being a Broadway choreographer. I doubt that anyone would have the ability to do both well, since they occupy different worlds. Being a stage director is vastly different from being a film director, for example. Plus we've got a time issue - how does Gideon find the time to have so many relationships, when he's got so many projects, film and theater, in different stages of production? It seems like the film about the comedian is there just for the explanatory audio-track when it's replayed late in the film. Which brings me to...
NITPICK POINT #2: It's the 5 stages of GRIEF, not the 5 stages of death. Anger, denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance - this is the process that mourners go through, not the deceased themselves. Death often has just one stage, unless perhaps someone's been ill for a long while and has to come to terms with their own mortality, but still, get the name right.
Also starring Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Leland Palmer, John Lithgow (last seen in "The World According to Garp"), with cameos from CCH Pounder (last seen in "Avatar") and Wallace Shawn (last seen in "The Meteor Man").
RATING: 4 out of 10 hospital gowns
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