Sweet Charity (1969) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Sweet Charity
Year: 1969
Director: Bob Fosse
Country: US
Language: English

Bob Fosse is one of the greatest directors to ever grace the silver screen. All That Jazz (1979) and Caberet (1972) are certainly in my top twenty. The latter re-invented the Hollywood musical, which used to be family oriented (see Sound of Music) and transformed it into something more serious and sexual. A great director has to start somewhere; Sweet Charity was his debut feature. It was based on the stage play written by Neil Simon, and it starred Shirley Maclaine.

Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands. She hopes that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life.

"There's gotta be something better than this!" Unfortunately Fosse doesn't have full control over the script, unlike his work in Cabaret and All That Jazz,  and the film suffers because of it. In Cabaret the characters were given a solid reason to sing, whereas in Sweet Charity the musical spots can often feel very random and disjointed. The world Fosse captures isn't consistent and can be slightly confusing. Are these musical moments happening in the characters' head? Is this a musical world in "real life"?

Sweet Charity's run-time is also far too long. For a 2hr 20 minute musical I could only recall two great songs; "There's gotta be something better than this" and "big spender", neither I could pinpoint when in the film they occurred. Granted I do like Fosse's signature choreography and I do think he directed the staging rather well. Shirley Maclaine's acting/singing is so-so. Great in many parts, somewhat bordering on "bad" in others. 

I really wanted to love this Fosse venture, but when it's not even halfway through the film and I'm wishing the movie would end, that clearly isn't a good sign. It's his debut feature and I can forgive him for it though. Other somewhat redeeming qualities include the costuming and makeup design, but unfortunately they don't make up for this lackluster musical. Avoid it if you can, watch Cabaret instead.