| Director | Rob Marshall |
|---|---|
| Budget | $45 million |
| Box office | $306.8 million |
In 1924, vaudeville star Velma Kelly performs ("Overture/All That Jazz") at The Onyx, a Chicago nightclub; the spotlight highlights the empty place where Velma's sister is missing awkwardly from the double act. Seeking stardom, housewife Roxie Hart watches Velma perform as she awaits furniture salesman Fred Casely, with whom Roxie is having an affair because he promised to introduce her to the nightclub's manager. After the show, Velma is arrested for killing her husband and sister, who she had caught in bed together. Roxie is disappointed when Casely fails to introduce her to the Onyx manager.
A month later, Casely admits to Roxie that he lied about his connections to sleep with her but is now tired of the affair. Enraged, she shoots him dead. She convinces her gullible husband, Amos, to take the blame, telling him she killed a burglar in self-defense. However, when evidence of Roxie's infidelity is uncovered, Amos recants and tells the police that Casely was dead when he arrived home ("Funny Honey"). Roxie is arrested, with District Attorney Martin Harrison declaring she faces execution by hanging.
At the Cook County Jail, Roxie is sent to Murderess' Row, supervised by the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton ("When You're Good to Mama"). Roxie learns the backstories of the other women there, including her idol, Velma ("Cell Block Tango"), who rebuffs her attempts at friendship. On Morton's advice, Roxie engages Velma's lawyer, the brilliant Billy Flynn ("All I Care About"). Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press, reinventing Roxie as a virtuous Southern woman corrupted by the city's decadent nightlife. A "repentant" Roxie claims she had the affair with Casely because Amos neglected her for work, but Casely jealously attacked her when she chose to remain with Amos ("We Both Reached for the Gun"). The press extolls the story, and Roxie becomes an overnight sensation ("Roxie"), praised by the public as a tragic heroine. Unhappy at losing the public's attention, Velma tries to convince Roxie to join her act, replacing her murdered sister ("I Can't Do It Alone"); now the more popular of the two rivals, Roxie snubs her.
When wealthy heiress Kitty Baxter is arrested for murdering her husband and his two mistresses, the press and Flynn instantly shift their focus to her. To Velma's exasperation, Roxie quickly regains the spotlight by claiming pregnancy. The press ignores Amos ("Mister Cellophane"); to generate more sympathy for Roxie, Flynn convinces Amos that the child is Casely's and that he should divorce Roxie in her predicament. Roxie decides to fire Flynn, believing she can now win on her own. However, when Katalin Helinszki, a Hungarian woman on Murderess' Row (the only inmate who insists on her own innocence), becomes the first woman in Cook County history to be executed by hanging, Roxie realizes the gravity of the situation and rehires Flynn.
Flynn turns Roxie's trial into a media spectacle ("Razzle Dazzle") with the help of sensationalist newspaper reporters and radio personality Mary Sunshine. Flynn discredits witnesses, manipulates evidence, and even stages a public reconciliation between Amos and Roxie when she claims the child is his. Mama and Velma find Roxie's diary, containing incriminating entries, and offer it to the prosecution as evidence in exchange for amnesty in Velma's own case. Flynn discredits the diary, implying from its legalistic language that it was written by DA Harrison, who planted it as evidence ("A Tap Dance"). Though Roxie is acquitted, her fame is eclipsed moments later when another woman-who-shot-her-husband shoots her own lawyer outside the courthouse. Flynn admits to Roxie that he tampered with her diary himself to incriminate the DA and to free his two clients simultaneously. Loyal Amos is excited to be a father, but Roxie cruelly reveals that she faked her pregnancy.
Roxie pursues a vaudeville career with limited success ("Nowadays"). The similarly unsuccessful Velma reapproaches Roxie to suggest performing together as a novel double act featuring two murderesses. Though initially refusing, Roxie accepts when Velma points out that they can perform together despite their mutual dislike. The two stage a spectacular performance ("Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag"), receiving a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience that includes Flynn, Morton, the jurors, and other acquitted murderesses.