kenbarr-ny
As a movie, "The Jazz Singer" is not terribly good. However, Neil Diamond's music make it worth at least a look. Particularly relevant in these times is his hit "(Coming To) America, an anthem extolling immigration and the contribution of immigrants to American culture. The acting, however, is another story. This was one of Laurence Olivier's "made it for the money" flicks and Lucie Arnaz was tragically miscast. As an actor, Diamond is a great singer. I don't know what spoilers I'm adding here but I figure it's better to err on the side of caution.
Leofwine_draca
THE JAZZ SINGER is a straight-up remake of the 1927 Al Jolson musical in which a Jewish man pursues his dream of becoming a pop singer. How much you enjoy it depends really on your appreciation of Neil Diamond, as he dominates the proceedings here. The rest of the cast, including Laurence Olivier, don't get much of a look in, and there's little plotting to boot. Diamond's acting skills are limited to say the least, but he does belt out a number of decent tunes, so as an easy-listening piece this works pretty well.
PWNYCNY
The 1980 movie became a hit for Neil Diamond, largely due to his rendition of the songs "Love on the Rocks" and "America." As for Laurence Olivier's performance as a Jewish cantor in the 1980 movie, watch the movie and decide for yourself what you think of his performance. The 1980 movie also features Neil Diamond performing in black face, just like Jolson did fifty-three years earlier. Question: Have things really changed? Although the movie is rife with cheesy acting and dialog that makes one wonder if the script was perhaps improvised, nevertheless in its own inimitable way it succeeds in telling a story about America, which is something. Now if the movie only had a decent screenplay to go along with movie's underlying theme, then maybe the movie could be taken more seriously. But such improvement will have to wait till the next remake.
stumpmee77
Like was mentioned in another commentary, Diamond should have made a concert film and I add or a documentary on his life laced with these new songs. Or narrate a documentary of Jewish musicians in America. But why am I frittering my time crying over spilt milk what could've been done instead? Somebody put this crap together, Diamond's in it and to sum it up minus the music & (too little of) Lucy Arnaz (sp), Jazz Singer 1980 cringe-worthy.I was incensed with the black face thing above everything else--Remake or modernization that should not have been in the film; maybe it tinged my feeling for the rest of this cinematic drivel. But wait, black face scene out it's still a nauseating flick without songs and Lucy's daughter. It's not the least bit funny or charming. The makers of this should've taken a peek at the the Beatles films--They were both funny and cute and the Fab 4 could act. Sting (Dune 1984) and David Bowie are good average actors, Manilow was somewhat tolerable in his film 5 yrs later but the story was nice. Jazz Singer 1980 is boring and Diamond is so gut turning bad even Larry O, laughable in his role, couldn't make me forget how this remake sucked. Somebody ever coming across this review get a hold of what Roger Ebert said about this when it firs came out. It sums up everything.
AD
