Sweet Charity

Dir. Bob Fosse

149 Minutes

USA

1969

Starring: Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr, Chita Rivera

***/*****

Musical version of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria about a dance hall girl (altered from a prostitute in the original film) who is adamant that there is a stable love out there for her. The film is certainly overlong, with some musical numbers that feel tacked on rather than enhancing the narrative or experience in any way (the most glaring of these is during a "church visit" that is great fun to watch but smack in the middle of action that takes us nowhere other than where we are). Preferred the more "Fosse" of the numbers ("Fun, Fun Fun") which is so wonderfully done and early on to the point where it sets a high bar for the rest. Shirley MacLaine is really infectious and nearly gives an anchor to this entire affair. But so many sequences go on longer than they need, turning some moments into set pieces that become tiresome (the elevator meeting between Charity and Oscar is one I can easily point to). But its entertainment outweighs its tedium, and when the film has an energy that matches MacLaine it really is a bit tremendous. It is just a shame that all 149 minutes could not be consistent with those.

August 24th, 2019