Sightlines · reception
How All That Jazz was received
1979 · Bob Fosse · All That Jazz on Sightlines
The arc
Critics in 1979 split hard — many called it self-indulgent and morbid even as it racked up nine Oscar nominations and shared the Palme d'Or with Kagemusha. Today the 'indulgence' is the point: it's canonized as one of the greatest movie musicals and a landmark of editing.
What’s debated
The eternal fight: is Fosse's self-portrait brutally honest self-laceration, or the most flattering hatchet job a man ever gave himself?
Its footprint
'It's showtime, folks!' — mirror, eye drops, Vivaldi — is one of cinema's most quoted morning routines, and the film is the reference point for every 'making art will kill you' story since; its razor-cut editing style echoes through music videos and awards-season montages alike.
Where it stands
A cinephile rite of passage and Letterboxd darling — the musical people recommend to friends who claim they hate musicals.
Did you know? Richard Dreyfuss was originally cast as Joe Gideon but dropped out before shooting, and Roy Scheider — then best known for Jaws — took the role and earned a Best Actor nomination.