After a seemingly endless gestation period, this cinematic adaptation of the Kander and Ebb Broadway musical hit has finally arrived and fortunately delivers the sexy razzle-dazzle that everyone, especially movie musical fans, has been hoping for. An even more accessible and substantial screen musical than last year's "Moulin Rouge" (and not nearly as headache-inducing), the movie version of "Chicago" is a screen triumph that should ride critical kudos and award recognition to significant commercial success, though its potential could be limited by the inherent darkness of the material and less-than-likable main characters. "Chicago," as staged by Bob Fosse, was a Broadway hit upon its initial 1975 production, but it was with its 1996 revival, now the longest-running in Broadway history, that it truly entered the public consciousness.

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