The movie musical is back with a bang! Rob Marshall's "Chicago" is a masterpiece. The movie centers around Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones of "High Fidelity"), the star of the vaudeville stage who is in jail after killing her husband and sister. Roxie Hart (Rene Zellweger of "White Oleander") is a wanna-be star. Hart stands in absolute awe of Kelly, who murdered her lover after he lied to her by promising to help her achieve stardom. Hart and Kelly meet in prison on death row; both are accused of murder. Kelly is on her way out of jail having hired the superstar criminal lawyer, Billy Flinn (Richard Gere), whose high price reflects his perfect winning record.

When Hart learns of him and her sucker of a husband pays the $5,000 fee, she becomes Flinn's new project leaving Kelly in the dust. Flinn acts more as a PR rep than a lawyer by teaching Hart that the way to win the case is by winning the hearts of the public. She soon learns that by concocting the story that she is pregnant, she can further win the hearts of the public.

Kelly must learn to save herself when she sees that Flinn has given up on her case because Hart has become the city's new "it" girl. "Mamma" Morton, the jailhouse warden (Queen Latifah of "The Bone Collector") is also in the mix to help the women, but not without helping herself at the same time.

The movie opens with Zeta-Jones performing the stupendous song and dance number, "All That Jazz." Her formal training on the London stage helped her transform herself into the superstar Velma Kelly. With her dancing and singing talents, she gets completely lost in the character. Zellweger doesn't bring the same charisma to the screen, lacking formal singing and dancing experience. But, her character doesn't need it, since Hart is not the celebrity that Kelly is. Gere also does surprisingly well with singing and dancing. He even tap-dances!

This was Rob Marshall's directorial film debut after having directed a number of theatrical productions. He takes the delight of theater and mixes it with cinematic magic. This film's strongest point is its fusion of theater and film. The movie doesn't stick to the traditional film techniques of putting the audience inside the story as though it is a fly on the wall. It also provides what only the theater can do -- puts the viewer right up there watching the action and feeling that the actors know you are there.

All of the singing and dancing is performed on a stage, while the camera is actually behind imaginary audience members who are believed to be watching the show on stage.

"Chicago" takes you off the wall and puts you in the theater. The singing and dancing is so spectacular you will find yourself tapping your foot to the beat and mouthing the words to the songs. Last year's "Moulin Rouge" brought the musical back, and this year's "Chicago" is keeping it here.