48%Tomatometer 44 Reviews 61%Audience Score 10,000+ Ratings Hundreds of hopefuls congregate at a cattle call for Broadway dancers. A sour director, Zach (Michael Douglas), and his brusque assistant (Terrence Mann) whittle down the ranks until they're left with 16 dancers. All tell their life stories -- some tragic, some comic -- and explain their love of dance. Tension mounts when Cassie (Alyson Reed) -- once both a big star and the director's lover but now desperate for a part -- auditions. But Zach must choose only the best for his show. Read MoreRead Less
Where to Watch
A Chorus Line
Prime Video
Rent A Chorus Line on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.
A Chorus Line
What to Know
Critics Consensus
On stage, A Chorus Line pulled back the curtain to reveal the hopes and fears of showbiz strivers, but that energy and urgency is lost in the transition to the big screen.
Read Critics Reviews
Critics Reviews
View All (44) Critics Reviews
Joe Pollack St. Louis Post-Dispatch 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 Full Review Perry Stewart Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Is it good? Yes. But is it, in the words of the finale, a "singular sensation?" Well, no, it isn't. Rated: 3/4 May 25, 2023 Full Review Bill Cosford Miami Herald 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 Full Review Bob Ross Tampa Tribune 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. Rated: 2.5/4 May 25, 2023 Full Review Robert W. Butler Kansas City Star 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. Rated: 3/4 May 25, 2023 Full Review Richard Freedman Newhouse News Service 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 Full Review Read all reviews
Audience Reviews
View All (440) audience reviews
Autumn M A Chorus Line is the story of a group of Broadway-hopefuls all competing for the coveted spots in a chorus line. The audience learns about each person's backstory and what has inspired them to dance. It felt a bit like a bottle episode. The songs were okay, but I really do not understand how they could have built an entire musical around an audition. I just was not impressed. Not recommended. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars12/10/23 Full Review Robert C Lost the edge of the Broadway show. Far too artsy-fartsy. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars11/21/23 Full Review Joel H At the beginning of A Chorus Line, the director says, "since I need great dancers, I can't expect you all to be great actors." That seems to hold true with this film adaptation of the Broadway musical. The cast is full of talented dancers, but the acting was hit and miss. I didn't connect with any the characters, either. They all seemed like miserable people leading miserable lives. And we're supposed to be happy for those who were cast in the show, but I just felt bad for them. Also, what was Michael Douglas doing in this movie? I guess one, singularly sensational song doesn't make a musical great. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars11/03/23 Full Review Gerald O I really liked this movie a lot. Granted, I never saw the stage play, but this movie stands alone with the dancing, the drama and the singing. I really don't see how the critics could give this movie such a low score. So totally unfair and so completely inaccurate. Rated 5/5 Stars •Rated 5 out of 5 stars09/05/23 Full Review Mike P A notorious misfire. This was supposed to be an iconic, ultimate backstage musical about Broadway. About the love of theatre itself; a peaon to actors who masoch*stically sacrifice everything following it's sirens song in slavish devotion to it; and in particular to the dancers that make up a chorus line. This show was a legend before Attenborough got to it. And yet this adaptation was so bad it made people question the original source material in the first place; (you know you've failed when that happens; I'm looking at you Cats!) This source material which was a huge smash: a phenomenon infact for the Sam S Schubert theater where it originated in 75, helped launch Broadway into a new era of adult oriented theater; won both a Tony and a Pulitzer prize. But the problem here really is the script. It doesn't work. This just isn't compelling enough. Examining the hopes of and dreams of audutionees in a dance show is a big so what? It's meh. Fame did the same thing 5 years earlier, much more effectively. Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (which ironically also features Chorus Line creator Michael Bennett) was a much more stunning, incisive and moving peaon to the life of a Broadway dancer. Another problem is like why is Zack terrorizing all these dancers into spilling their guts? What does that have to do with anything? In the original 1975 production Bennett started a series of workshops at the Sam S. Shubert Theater where he interviewed dancers to get to the heart of their experience; with an understanding that the most moving would be featured in this live workshop show called a Chorus Line. The auditioners understood that: the audience understood that; and saw this show for what it was; a real documentary and expose type show; taking alot of the real dialogue and conversations that happened back then; and alot of the real life stories; and characters, based on real-life people; and fashioning it into a real workshop show; it was kind of like reality tv for Broadway. So we understood why the director was grilling his actors; because Bennett himself was creating realty-tv type theater; and so it made sense; and also knowing that the actors in the show were mostly playing themselves, saying things they had originally said in the audition, gave it a thrilling level of realism never before seen in the theater. But Attenborough seems to have missed this point; as these are just actors reciting lines that were written for them; this isn't authentically them; and the audience is aware of that. The point is none of it really works. It's boring, trite; no more fascinating than your average American Idol or Masked Singer episode; which have come to replace this show anyway for that fly-on-the-wall ultimate backstage experience. Honestly you'd be better off watching any other backstage musical: All that Jazz; Fame, 42nd Street, even Bennett's own Dreamgirls is a much better backstage musical experience than this is. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars06/26/23 Full Review Audience Member I had to immediately go to the original cast album to get the sound of this gutless wimp of a production. None of them can *really* sing. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating
Cast & Crew
Richard Attenborough Director Michael Douglas Zach Terrence Mann Larry Audrey Landers Val Michael Blevins Mark Yamil Borges Diana Morales
Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew
More Like This
View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
56% 70% Tap 20% 39% Shout 43% 88% Sing 20% 50% Mack the Knife 18% 87% Graffiti Bridge Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
Photos
View All A Chorus Line photos
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line (1985)A Chorus Line (1985)A Chorus Line (1985)A Chorus Line (1985)A Chorus Line (1985) View more photos
Movie Info
SynopsisHundreds of hopefuls congregate at a cattle call for Broadway dancers. A sour director, Zach (Michael Douglas), and his brusque assistant (Terrence Mann) whittle down the ranks until they're left with 16 dancers. All tell their life stories -- some tragic, some comic -- and explain their love of dance. Tension mounts when Cassie (Alyson Reed) -- once both a big star and the director's lover but now desperate for a part -- auditions. But Zach must choose only the best for his show.
At some point Cassie lived with Zach and was briefly a featured dancer, getting out of the chorus when she was 22. After being unable to put up with his overworking tendencies, she moved to California to pursue stardom but only managed in landing bit parts.
A CHORUS LINE is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers– those valiant, over dedicated, underpaid, highly trained performers who back up the star or stars and often make them look even more talented than they are. It is also a celebration of the American Musical itself.
A Chorus Line is a 1985 American musical film directed by Richard Attenborough, and starring Michael Douglas and Terrence Mann. The screenplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the book of the 1975 stage production of the same name by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.
Zach is the director leading the audition that makes up A Chorus Line. He was originally portrayed on Broadway by Robert Lupone and largely modeled after director Michael Bennett.
The musical — conceived, choreographed and directed by the late Michael Bennett — told the true stories of professional dancers. Each tale was based on interviews between Bennett and his friends, many of whom (including Lee) portrayed their own lives in the original Broadway production.
A Chorus Line was groundbreaking in the way in which it de-glamourised the grind that chorus members go through in order to fulfil their love of dance. None of the characters are seeking stardom; rather, they're trying to survive from one show to the next.
Donna McKechnie (born November 16, 1942) is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, the character of Cassie in the musical A Chorus Line.
Connie introduces herself as being born on the Lower East Side of Chinatown (New York) on "December 5, 4642, the Year of the Chicken", which equates to the Western year 1945 and would make her 31 at the time of the play's premiere.
'' The major difference in the film version is the development of the love story between the director, Zach, and Cassie, a former chorus-line dancer who has failed to become a star and now wants to get back into the line. The decision to highlight their affair was done for the sake of pacing and plot.
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
