Review: A Chorus Line

DVD: A Chorus Line (1985)

I LOVE Musicals, oh hang on, a bit TOO broad. I love most musicals. I’m thinking On the Town, West Side Story, yes, even La La Land. And you know what I love MORE than musicals? People dancing. No I’m not talking ‘Strictly‘ dancing with the stars here, no proper Gene fricking KELLY dancing, Ginger Rogers, Patrick Swayze, Russ Tamblyn, John Travolta and Rita Moreno dancing. Hell I’ll even add Kevin Bacon to that list. So I was rather intrigued by A Chorus Line.

Directed by Richard Attenborough (weird choice, but then Sylvester Stallone directed Staying Alive which can either be seen as an act of genius or a disaster depending on your opinion of the film), this film follows a group of dancers auditioning for an upcoming Broadway production. Formidable director Zach (Michael Douglas) and his assistant choreographer Larry (Terrence Mann) put the dancers through their paces.

Every dancer is desperate for work and endures various dance-offs and cuts. Zach tells them he is looking for a strong dancing chorus of four boys and four girls. He wants to learn more about them (oral anyone?), and asks the dancers to introduce themselves. With pretend ‘reluctance’, the dancers reveal their TORTURED pasts. The stories generally progress chronologically from early life experiences through adulthood to the end of a career. Oh good GOD they had terrible lives, only to be saved by Cocaine.. I mean DANCE! YEY! We also meet Cassie (Alyson Reed) who was once Zach’s lover. She’s fallen on hard times and needs a job off him.

It’s a strange film story-wise, perhaps it was very ‘different’ when it came out originally as all the characters are desperate for the job – like Gold Diggers of 1933, and Cassie is that main girl who wants the big time, but – well in short it’s very much up its own arse. The language is trite and weird, and despite them all being hopeful and desperate, you just don’t care.

However, the dancing is pretty good. It’s not your Hollywood musical/romantic type dancing, its more post-disco bump and grind, oh and the singing is DIRE (hey who said dancers can sing?).

One notable thing is Sammy Curr himself (Trick or Treat) Tony Fields is one of the main dancers. Not once did he hit his thigh or electrocute anyone. Damn.

I’d say this one, despite the dancing, is for fans only.

Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Umbrella Entertainment.