They've released the DVD of the 1985 movie version of A Chorus Line. I was going to write a long piece here about the many ways in which the movie corrupts and/or misses the point of the original, classic Broadway show but I don't have to. Theater expert Ken Mandelbaum took most of the words right out of my mouth. Here's a link to his article.
I agree with everything he says, but I'd add two more flaws. One is that the cinematography of the film often works against a proper viewing of the dances. At least in the theater where I saw it, there were shots where the dancers' feet were awkwardly cropped and others where the cutting interrupted the flow of movement, or cut against the beat. (A dancer friend of mine commented that the choreography was probably a lot better than you can tell on the screen.)
Secondly, the premise of the "Tits and Ass" number is that the dancer in question wasn't getting jobs before she had those two parts of her body adjusted via surgery. Before that, casting folks rated her looks at "3" on a scale of one to ten, ten being best. It was augmentation of her chest and buttocks that made her attractive because she was not otherwise attractive. Therefore, you cast someone with a rather plain face. You don't cast Audrey Landers who is naturally and movie-star gorgeous just from the neck up. (In spite of that, she was terrific. I've seen Audrey for years and I doubt there's a role anywhere near her age range that she couldn't play.)
Also, down below, you'll note that I recently read the autobiography of the great Broadway producer, Cy Feuer. One of the few big failings of Mr. Feuer's career was that he produced the movie of A Chorus Line. It's interesting that in the book, he admits the failing, and says that Michael Bennett (the primary creator of the original play) advised him not to allow the movie to focus on the love story between Zack and Cassie. Feuer says this was very good advice and he wishes he'd followed it. So do we all.
I don't recommend this movie but if you're going to buy it, click here to order it from Amazon and give us a small cut. Or if it's on cable, just catch the number with Audrey.