I had been interested in seeing another Shirley MacLaine movie after watching The Apartment and reading her Hollywood biography. This seems to be one of her better loved movies so seemed like a suitable choice.
I can honestly say this wasn't that an enjoyable watch. I am not mad on musicals anyway, some are bearable, but this had far too many musical numbers for me. I see other reviewers seem to have a thing for the choreographers work, which to me looked at time bizarre, and seemed to rate the movie based on their enjoyment of this aspect of the movie. The problem with this view is it ignores the shortcomings of the actual film.
The main character as played by MacLaine isn't very likable. She comes across as a latter day Bridget Jones, constantly flitting from one romantic disaster to the next. However these disasters are of her own making. She reminds me of these girls who use dating apps, pick unsuitable men and then complain about the outcome. Its neither funny or endearing. Particularly when the data shows these women are all chasing the same guys based on criteria which is completely irrelevant to their character.
Like most rom coms we get the kissing many frogs to find the prince narrative, so eventually she finds someone she wants to keep but the question arises, will he want to keep her?
This is actually the only realistic aspect to the movie, men also have standards. And they haven't changed at all since this was in the theatres.
In terms of the ending, no spoilers, but the responses vary on whether its a positive or negative one.
At best this will be enjoyable for people who want to watch a Fosse movie and do not really care about the quality as long as they get to enjoy the dancing. However I suspect the majority will not enjoy this, simply because people want these kinds of films to resolve in a more acceptable way. This movie does however have a very solid message about women dating and body count. It matters to men, and its them who decide who gets married, whether female empowerment gurus tell you it does or doesn't.
I can honestly say this wasn't that an enjoyable watch. I am not mad on musicals anyway, some are bearable, but this had far too many musical numbers for me. I see other reviewers seem to have a thing for the choreographers work, which to me looked at time bizarre, and seemed to rate the movie based on their enjoyment of this aspect of the movie. The problem with this view is it ignores the shortcomings of the actual film.
The main character as played by MacLaine isn't very likable. She comes across as a latter day Bridget Jones, constantly flitting from one romantic disaster to the next. However these disasters are of her own making. She reminds me of these girls who use dating apps, pick unsuitable men and then complain about the outcome. Its neither funny or endearing. Particularly when the data shows these women are all chasing the same guys based on criteria which is completely irrelevant to their character.
Like most rom coms we get the kissing many frogs to find the prince narrative, so eventually she finds someone she wants to keep but the question arises, will he want to keep her?
This is actually the only realistic aspect to the movie, men also have standards. And they haven't changed at all since this was in the theatres.
In terms of the ending, no spoilers, but the responses vary on whether its a positive or negative one.
At best this will be enjoyable for people who want to watch a Fosse movie and do not really care about the quality as long as they get to enjoy the dancing. However I suspect the majority will not enjoy this, simply because people want these kinds of films to resolve in a more acceptable way. This movie does however have a very solid message about women dating and body count. It matters to men, and its them who decide who gets married, whether female empowerment gurus tell you it does or doesn't.