All That Jazz, an appalling work, is about an artist helplessly driving himself toward a heart attack. Gideon is the man who has the stuff, the divine fire, the man everyone loves and depends on. No one else counts….

All That Jazz is a characteristic product of our confessional age. After the success of dance musicals like Michael Bennett's A Chorus Line and Fosse's Dancin', it was only a matter of time before the star choreographer-director stepped out in front of his performers and made his sufferings and triumphs the subject of the show. But All That Jazz, Fosse's summing up of life, love, and art, goes beyond mere self-celebration. Not since Chaplin (in Limelight) has anyone given way to the supreme foolishness of dramatizing his own death. The movie is a monstrous ego trip…. What's depressing about All That Jazz is the banality of Fosse's journey into...