Although Bob Fosse's Cabaret is an efficient and lively production, everything really boils down to how much one actually enjoys the musical itself. I've never been a fan of the show, so it should come as no surprise that I have a lukewarm reaction to the material at best. True, the film adaptation makes a lot of interesting adjustments from the Broadway musical, but the story is still a meandering effort that never generates profound interest and, strangely, prevents it from ever being touching.
The film is set in 1930's Berlin, with the Nazi movement about to spread across Germany. Joel Grey is the Master of Ceremonies at a small club that revels in decadence through musical numbers. Liza Minnelli plays Sally Bowles, a woman who would sleep with a coffee table if she thought it would get her an acting job. Enter perennial stiffy Michael York as a British writer named Brian Roberts. He's a quiet sort of chap. In fact, the movie nearly grinds to a halt every time we see Brian. Yet Sally sees in him a unique kind of challenge, someone she can end up with if she plays her cards right.
In between all the offbeat wordplay and cabaret numbers, there are a few subplots. One involves an unlikely pair of young acquaintances named Fritz Wendel and Natalia Landauer (Fritz Wepper and Marisa Berenson) who are kept apart because of rising anti-semitism. Another is about a wealthy man named Maximilian (Helmut Griem), who appears on the surface to be coming between Sally and Brian.
It's a mixed bag of performances in Cabaret. Liza Minnelli has moments that are reminiscent of her mother Judy Garland, and she certainly has presence, but all is for nought due to the poor chemistry between her and Michael York. As the Master of Ceremonies, Joel Grey seems to be having the most fun with his various costumes and eclectic songs. The rest of the characters aren't particularly memorable.
Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are no strangers to seedy subject matter. The sexual ambiguity in works such as Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical and Chicago, however, are executed much more successfully because the plots are more intriguing. With Cabaret, the only thing we're wondering is how soon it will be before Sally and Brian realize they don't really want to be together.
