Just saw this film about a week ago in Los Angeles with a friend who desperately wanted to catch it, primarily because of the great cast. I'd heard a bit about it previously, mostly negative reviews from the professional critics, but I thought I'd give it a go, primarily for Susan Sarandon. After about the first half-hour, I had a few solid impressions: (1) the sing-alongs mostly didn't work and were sometimes just annoying; (2) the editing went from fair to non-existent, with scenes just vanishing; (3) most of the actors were wasted -- more like cameo appearances than roles (did Elaine Stritch just happen to be in the neighborhood?); (4) the choreography apparently was supposed to be unstylish and clunky, but it often was just distracting. While watching the final credits, I saw the 2005 copyright date and assumed that the studio thought the film too poor for release, and my friend agree--after saying that it was one of the worst movies he'd ever seen.
If you want to see singing and dancing noir, stick with Potter's THE SINGING DETECTIVE or the underrated Martin-Peters flick PENNIES FROM HEAVEN.
If you want to see singing and dancing noir, stick with Potter's THE SINGING DETECTIVE or the underrated Martin-Peters flick PENNIES FROM HEAVEN.