'CHICAGO' TODDLES WHEN IT SHOULD SOAR.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

DELIVERING more fizzle and drizzle than any kind of razzle-dazzle, Rob Marshall's perfunctory film version of ``Chicago'' is hampered by a slavish devotion to the material's Broadway origins and the disastrous casting of Renee Zellweger in the lead role.

The final result makes for adequate entertainment, I suppose, but anyone who has seen ``Chicago'' on stage will leave the theater feeling they've watched nothing but a pale imitation of the real deal.

Hollywood has been wanting to make a movie version of the great Bob Fosse musical for the past quarter century, but no one could figure out how to do it. Marshall, too, is clearly stumped.

His best - and only idea - seems to be to borrow from Fosse at every turn. But ideas that were fresh when Fosse put them on film in the '70s with ``Cabaret'' or ``All That Jazz'' seem strained in Marshall's hands. For the most part, his ``Chicago'' looks like a Victoria's Secret television special: gaudy, garish and completely devoid of soul.

Aside from a paucity of new ideas - or, really any ideas - Marshall's ``Chicago'' is wrecked by its casting choices. Zellweger, a gifted girl- next-door comedian, here must tackle the role of Roxy, a sexy murderess with a shameless craving for the spotlight. The part requires a mixture of tough savvy and innocence, as well as a potent eroticism. Zellweger, looking alarmingly emaciated, can muster up the required naivete, but falls short on every other count, and Marshall does her no favors by trying to make her into a glamorous Marilyn Monroe acolyte.

Since Roxy, who becomes a tabloid celebrity in prison after being arrested for the murder of her lover, is ``Chicago's'' main character, Zellweger's flailing presents a big problem. Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing Velma Kelly, a killer cabaret star watching Roxy steal her headlines, fares much better, if for no other reason that she knows how to sing and dance. Zeta-Jones also has the kind of raw sexuality that the piece requires.

Richard Gere plays Billy Flynn, the sleazy lawyer representing both women, but in truth representing only his own interests. Flynn's ability to manipulate the press and the truth for his financial gain give ``Chicago'' whatever pertinence it has. When he tells Roxy, ``You're a phony celebrity. In two weeks' time, no one will give a damn about you,'' he could have been talking about anyone from Tonya Harding to John Wayne Bobbit.

Here again, though, Marshall and the producers have cast a name instead of going after the right actor. You need a natural ham for Flynn. (George Hamilton was wonderful in a recent Broadway run.) Even in his heyday 20 years ago, Gere was never the most exciting of performers, more of a brooder than a flashy star. What he's doing here, tap-dancing as if his life depended on it, is anyone's guess.

But then, a lot of guesswork has gone into this production. Marshall seems to think that filming the Broadway show is enough, but such a superficial rendering backfires here, where the subject itself - in between the show-stopping musical numbers - is our preoccupation with superficiality. Bill Condon's screenplay makes the occasional stab at being relevant, but anything of substance inevitably gets lost in the film's frenetic roar. It ends up being a lot of noise in the service of absolutely nothing.

CHICAGO - Two stars

(PG-13: sexual content and dialogue, violence and thematic elements)

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah.

Director: Rob Marshall.

Running time: 1 hr. 40 min.

Playing: AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills; Pacific's Paseo Stadium 14 in Pasadena; Edwards Long Beach Stadium 26 Cinemas; AMC Burbank 14; Loews Cineplex Century Plaza Cinemas in Century City.

In a nutshell: More fizzle and drizzle than razzle-dazzle. If you've seen the stage version, don't bother.

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Photo:

Renee Zellweger struts her stuff for the boys in ``Chicago,'' the long- awaited film version of the hit musical.