Editing All That Jazz (film) (section)

==Critical reception==
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|88|7.6|47|Director Bob Fosse and star Roy Scheider are at the top of their games in this dazzling, self-aware stage drama about a death-obsessed director-choreographer.|access-date=January 18, 2025|ref=y}} {{Metacritic film prose|72|13|ref=yes|access-date=March 30, 2024}}

In his review in ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Vincent Canby]] called the film "an uproarious display of brilliance, nerve, dance, maudlin confessions, inside jokes and, especially, ego" and "an essentially funny movie that seeks to operate on too many levels at the same time... some of it makes you wince, but a lot of it is great fun... A key to the success of the production is the performance of Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon... With an actor of less weight and intensity, ''All That Jazz'' might have evaporated as we watched it. Mr. Scheider's is a presence to reckon with."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/20/archives/the-screen-roy-scheider-stars-in-all-that-jazzpeter-pan-syndrome.html|title=The Screen: Roy Scheider Stars in 'All That Jazz':Peter Pan Syndrome|first=Vincent|last=Canby|date=20 December 1979|access-date=27 June 2019|website=[[The New York Times]]|archive-date=20 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620141521/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/20/archives/the-screen-roy-scheider-stars-in-all-that-jazzpeter-pan-syndrome.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' described it as "a self-important, [[egomania]]cal, wonderfully choreographed, often compelling film" and added, "Roy Scheider gives a superb performance as Gideon, creating a character filled with nervous energy... The film's major flaw lies in its lack of real explanation of what, beyond ego, really motivates [him]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117796599.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0|title=''Variety'' review|website=Variety.com|access-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014101607/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117796599.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0|archive-date=14 October 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Gene Siskel]] praised the film on ''[[Sneak Previews]]'' finding it fresh and entertaining describing it as "an obituary of a creative man who's afraid his work just might be trivial." His colleague [[Roger Ebert]] however, initially gave the film a mixed review when he first saw it, praising Fosse's choreography though criticizing the story finding it discombobulated and self-indulgent. He also found it inferior to ''[[8½]]'' stating, "I think it's kind of ironic Bob Fosse makes a film about his own life and it turns out to be Fellini's life."<ref name="Siskel & Ebert">{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=8257|title=The Electric Horseman, Cuba, Going in Style, The Black Hole, All That Jazz, 1980|website=Siskel And Ebert Movie Reviews|access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref> Years later in 2003, Ebert admitted that he changed his mind on the film and gave it praise stating that he was "wrong" about it at the time and felt it was unfair of him to compare it to Fellini.<ref name="Ebert & Roeper">{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=8088|title=Le Divorce, The Housekeeper, Open Range, American Splendor, 2003|website=Siskel And Ebert Movie Reviews|access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref>

[[Stanley Kauffmann]] of [[The New Republic]] wrote 'Except for one brief flashback, it's a latter-day self destructive agon in which the protagonist is beginning a complex Broadway show,'.<ref>{{cite magazine| title=Autobiographies| url=https://newrepublic.com| publication-date=1980-01-26| magazine=The New Republic| language=en}}</ref>

''[[TV Guide]]'' said, "The dancing is frenzied, the dialogue piercing, the photography superb, and the acting first-rate, with non-showman Scheider an illustrious example of casting against type . . . ''All That Jazz'' is great-looking but not easy to watch. Fosse's indulgent vision at times approaches sour self-loathing."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/jazz/review/111363|title=All That Jazz - TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com|access-date=27 June 2019}}</ref>

[[Leonard Maltin]] gave the film two-and-a-half stars (out of four) in his 2009 movie guide; he said that the film was "self-indulgent and largely negative," and that "great show biz moments and wonderful dancing are eventually buried in pretensions"; he also called the ending "an interminable finale which leaves a bad taste for the whole film."<ref name="Leonard Maltin page 26" />

''[[Time Out London]]'' states, "As translated onto screen, [Fosse's] story is wretched: the jokes are relentlessly crass and objectionable; the song 'n' dance routines have been created in the cutting-room and have lost any sense of fun; [[Fellini]]-esque moments add little but pretension; and scenes of a real open-heart operation, alternating with footage of a symbolic Angel of Death in veil and white gloves, fail even in terms of the surreal."<ref>[https://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/77740/All_That_Jazz.html ''Time Out London'' review] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507033352/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/77740/All_That_Jazz.html |date=2008-05-07 }}</ref>

Upon release in 1979, director [[Stanley Kubrick]], who is mentioned in the movie, reportedly called it "[the] best film I think I have ever seen".{{sfn|Baxter|1999|p=12}}
In 2001, ''All That Jazz'' was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]] and selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]]. It was also preserved by the [[Academy Film Archive]] in the same year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=All+That+Jazz&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive|access-date=2016-08-03|archive-date=2016-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813080745/http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=All+That+Jazz&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2006, the film was ranked #14 by the [[American Film Institute]] on its list of the [[AFI's 100 Years of Musicals|Greatest Movie Musicals]].

The film would be the last musical nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] until Disney's ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Beauty and the Beast]]'' was nominated in 1992, and was the last live-action musical to compete in the category until [[Baz Luhrmann]]'s ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]'' was nominated in 2002.