History Film / Chicago

* AmbiguousSyntax: During "Roxie," Roxie sings about how she'll go "from some dumb mechanic's wife to '''ROXIE'''!" She means she's the wife of some dumb mechanic, but given that she's something of a BrainlessBeauty, it becomes a StealthInsult to herself since she inadvertently called herself some dumb mechanic's wife.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * {{Fanservice}}: Loads of it.

** If the film finale is real, Roxie and Velma, who hate each other, are now bound to each other lest they fall from the spotlight. Additionally, Roxie has to rely on Velma despite Velma murdering her husband and sister despite needing them alive, and Velma must rely on Roxie despite Roxie viewing murder as a good way to get attention.

--->So if there's something that upsets you, makes you unhappy in anyway... don't shut your fatass mouth off to me, because I don't give a shit. NOW MOVE IT OUT!

** ''Subverted'' with Roxie. She thought Fred really loved her and was heartbroken to learn he lied about having show business connections just to win a bet with a trombone player and tap her ass. Shortly after she shoots him, however, she shows no remorse about letting Amos take the fall for her murdering him and is more concerned about ''herself'' when the police reveal Fred had a wife and kids. With that said, she is much nicer to the Hunyak than she is in the play, showing sympathy for her situation especially when learning the other lady is innocent.

* BilingualBonus: Hunyak, the Hungarian woman in prison, has a line during "Cell Block Tango" that is left untranslated. Considering that every other line is about women justifying murdering their loved ones because "he had it comin'!", you might be inclined to believe that her line is more of the same. In truth, she's innocent. Translated to English, what she says is:

** Even the Hunyak, despite being innocent, is subjected to this, being accused of conspiring with her lover to kill her husband.

* DeathByIrony: The Hunyak is the one woman on Murderess Row who is innocent of the crime she was convicted of, and the only one we see getting executed for it.

* GameChanger: In-universe, the Hunyak being executed is this. Despite the D.A. pushing for the death penalty for Roxie's case, almost no one takes it too seriously because no woman has ever been executed in Illinois. Even Roxie lets her fame get to her head and refuses to go along with Flynn's defense strategy. However, after the Hunyak swings, everyone at the prison becomes more subdued, and Roxie fearfully adheres to Billy's plan, since the stakes are now much higher.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Ekaterina Chtchelkanova, a Russian, plays Hunyak, a Hungarian who speaks very little English other than "not guilty". Her lines ''are'' in Hungarian, but her pronunciation is terrible.

* HollywoodLaw: It's implied that one of the major reasons Hunyak is found guilty and executed is because nobody can understand her. In real life, it's mandatory that a non English speaking suspect has a translator during their trial.

** The assistant D.A. seems to push the death penalty for ''everyone'', gets the innocent Hunyak hanged, and drops all charges on Velma Kelly, murderer of two, in exchange for testimony against Roxie Hart, murderer of one, just because the publicity's better.

* MiscarriageOfJustice: [[spoiler: Hunyak, the only innocent inmate, loses her last appeal and is hanged.]]

** Roxie herself is very civil to the Hunyak and sympathetic about her case.
** Mama seems genuinely upset at the Hunyak's execution, and both she and Billy take the time to attend [[spoiler:Velma and Roxie's show]].
** Mary Sunshine may be a BitchInSheepsClothing, but she also seems to be genuinely saddened by the Hunyak going to the gallows.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Hunyak, unlike the rest of "The Six Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail," is innocent of the murder she's accused of.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Hunyak, the only woman in "Cell Block Tango" who ''did not'' commit the murder she was accused of, is the only person we see found guilty and executed.

* FifteenMinutesOfFame: Velma Kelly's fame is almost immediately usurped by Roxie's. Roxie has to fake a pregnancy to stop the press from getting distracted by yet another murderess. And the second Roxie's trial is over, the media has already moved on to the next scandal.

* VideoCredits

** Billy also gets a moment; when he sees that Roxie is genuinely afraid before her trial, he comforts her and sings ''Razzle Dazzle'' [[PepTalkSong partly to reassure her]].

** During "Cell Block Tango", five of the six murderesses use red scarves to represent the blood of their slain lovers. The Hunyak, on the other hand, uses a white scarf to show that she's innocent. She is also bathed in heavy white light during her monologue while the rest of the women are bathed in red.

* {{Gaslighting}}: A really lame attempt was made by the husband of Billy's newest client, a Hawaiian plantation heiress. Billy mentions that the heiress caught her husband in bed with two women, and she brandished a gun on them. As the heiress angrily confronted her husband, he told her he was not cheating on her, and when she screamed that he was in bed with two women right in front of her, he replies "what are you going to believe? What you see or what I tell you?" She unloads her revolver on the three of them.

* GameChanger: In-universe, the Hunyak being executed is this. Despite the D.A. pushing for the death penalty for Roxie's case, almost no one takes it too seriously because no woman has ever been executed in Illinois. Even Roxie lets her fame get to her head and refuses to go along with Flynn's defense strategy. However, after the Hunyak swings everyone at the prison becomes more subdued, and Roxie fearfully adheres to Billy's plan, since the stakes are now much higher.

* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted. The police are more cordial in the film when they interrogate Amos about what happened, while checking Fred Casely's wallet to identify him. Then when Amos reveals that it was Roxie who shot Fred Casely and lied to Amos, they immediately take Roxie into custody.

''Chicago'' is a 2002 film based on [[Theatre/{{Chicago}} a musical]] originally choreographed and directed by the legendary Creator/BobFosse in 1975. It is the story of Roxie Hart (Creator/ReneeZellweger), a wannabe cabaret star in 1920s Chicago. She sleeps around unbeknownst to her husband, Amos (Creator/JohnCReilly), but has a falling-out with one of her lovers, shoots him and is arrested for murder. In prison, she develops a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly (Creator/CatherineZetaJones), who allegedly killed her own husband and sister.

* GeniusBonus: Velma kills her sister and husband at the Hotel Cicero. The real Cicero was an ancient Roman philosopher who acquired a posthumous reputation as a virtuous and moral leader working for the public good, but was later discovered to be a hypocritical opportunist who privately disagreed with all of the principles he argued for--not unlike Velma's own public image and subsequent fall from grace after her double homicide.