Even thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes. That, that is what I’m seeking when I go to the movies. All that jazz.

This is a plausible milestone in the evolution of the Hollywood film, a quivering, pulsating, dynamic, excessive and flawed film that wears its alienation proudly where its heart should be.

By the time the film is over, the movie has degenerated with a jaundiced vengeance. Fosse's sour, grandstanding cynicism imposed an intolerable burden of self-pity on his talent, our compassion and the tradition of the backstage musical.

Creative and engaging, but ultimately too long for general audiences, despite Scheider giving a remarkable performance as a commercially accomplished yet personally flawed showman.