I think the film version suffers badly by comparison, but more important, I think that even if there had been no stage production, the film would not have worked very well.

| May 25, 2023

While conceding that the film medium cannot convey the same intensity as Michael Bennett's ingenious play, one still finds plenty of musical and emotional kicks in Richard Attenborough's conscientious screen adaptation.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 25, 2023

It lacks the stunning theatricality of the stage production, but it is reasonably diverting and every now and then lit up by flashes of genuine excitement.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 25, 2023

On film, it has its own -- often glittering -- pleasures to offer, suggesting a less original All That Jazz merged with a less frenetic Fame.

| May 25, 2023

Is it good? Yes. But is it, in the words of the finale, a "singular sensation?" Well, no, it isn't.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 25, 2023

The change in form from stage piece to movie only points up all the weaknesses that were disguised in the theater by the magic of live performance.

| May 25, 2023

A Chorus Line is overblown and self-conscious, a travesty upon its celebrated source material and, for a film about dancers, much too casual in recording their art. It is also one of the singular pleasures of this movie year.

| May 25, 2023

The movie has some flaws, but none has to do with tampering. It has the same excitement and sense of wonder about life on the Broadway stage as the original. And it has pulse, it moves with feeling, it's a heart movie.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 25, 2023

Attenborough's A Chorus Line isn't so much an expansion of Michael Bennett's show as it is an homage. Sticking to the basics, with a talented cast, he succeeds.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 25, 2023

If you were one of that legion who saw A Chorus Line more than once in the theater, the film is enough to make you doubt your judgment. If you've never seen the stage piece, you may come out wondering what in the name of goodness all the fuss was about.

| Mar 7, 2019

A Chorus Line is a noble, at times highly entertaining attempt to bring a hopelessly stagebound show to film. Considering the limitations of the medium, it's almost as good as it could be.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 7, 2019

A Chorus Line: The Movie is like a soccer match seen only from the waist up. They've cut off the feet, which is all the more frustrating when you're supposed to be enjoying the fancy footwork.

| Mar 7, 2019

A Chorus Line is a kind of 'Murphy's Law: The Motion Picture' -- everything that can go wrong does.

| Mar 7, 2019

Richard Attenborough's movies are like the best-behaved guests at a Swiss embassy reception; they never offend, never impress.

| Mar 7, 2019

The show's format proves too slippery for the director to manage properly. The stagebound setting gets boring; the action doesn't build a steady momentum; and the characters do far too much hanging around until the camera's ready to point at them again.

| Mar 7, 2019

You want to know about the dancing? It's bad. Rather, the way it has been restaged and shot for the movie is bad.

| Mar 7, 2019

A classic play has been reduced a decent movie. It's a shame it couldn't be as good as the play; it's a small pleasure that it`s as entertaining as it is.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 7, 2019

This $24 million extravaganza is an empty shell, so cautious it lacks even the sleazy energy of a real desecration.

| Mar 7, 2019

Athough director Attenborough's film version has a couple of pleasant numbers which serve as oases amidst the dullness, it really hurts for those who remember the dazzle and emotional depth of the let's-put-on-a-show original.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 7, 2019

Attenborough takes the show that set the stage alight and, in this curiously flat version, dampens its spirit.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 7, 2019