Chicago (2002 film)

Chicago is a 2002 American musical comedy crime film based on the musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age. The film stars Catherine ZetaJones, Rene Zellweger and Richard Gere, and also features John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Lucy Liu, Dominic West, Colm Feore, and Ma Harrison. Chicago centers on Velma Kelly ZetaJones and Roxie Hart Zellweger, two murderesses who find themselves in jail together awaiting trial in 1920s Chicago. Velma, a vaudevillian, and Roxie, a housewife, fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. Directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted by screenwriter Bill Condon, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture. The film was critically lauded, and was the first musical to win Best Picture since Oliver in 1968.

At Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderers Row, under the care of the corrupt matron Mama Morton When Youre Good to Mama. Roxie meets her idol Velma, but her friendship is rudely rebuffed. She learns the backstories of the other women there Cell Block Tango. On Mortons advice, Roxie engages Velmas lawyer, the brilliant Billy Flynn All I Care About. Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press, reinventing Roxies identity as an originally virtuous woman turned bad by the fast life of the city she claims she had the affair with Casely because Amos was always working, but repented and dumped him for Amos, and Casely jealously attacked her We Both Reached for the Gun. The press believe the story praised by the public as a tragic heroine, Roxie becomes an overnight sensation Roxie. Velma, unhappy at losing the publics attention, tries to convince Roxie to join her act, replacing the sister that she murdered I Cant Do It Alone, but Roxie, now the more popular of the two rivals, snubs her just as Velma originally did.Meanwhile, Kitty Baxter, a wealthy heiress, is arrested for murdering her husband and his two lovers, and the press and Flynn pay more attention to her. To Velmas surprise, Roxie quickly steals back the fame by claiming to be pregnant. Amos is ignored by the press Mister Cellophane, and Flynn, to create more sympathy for Roxie, convinces him that the child is Caselys, and that he should divorce Roxie in the middle of her predicament. Roxie overconfidently fires Flynn, believing she can now win on her own. However, when a Hungarian woman from Murderess Row is hanged, she realizes the gravity of the situation, and rehires Flynn. ........

Source: Wikipedia