The Jazz Singer is everything I hoped it would be, and more. Time after time, when you watch terrible movies in attempts to get a laugh, you find out the joke is actually on you and your precious time was wasted for nothing. Examples: Crossroads, Dungeons and Dragons. But the completely unnecessary remake of The Jazz Singer is in the great tradition of classics like Airport 1975. It is completely ridiculous, almost always funny, and only boring when Neil Diamond sings.
The film was conceived as a way for Diamond to make his movie debut, but a successful career as an actor was not in the cards, mainly because he sucks. The singer was thirty nine when he made the film, and he playing a guy who is apparently in his early twenties, or perhaps even younger. He is also simply a bad actor, so much so that it reminded of my of experiences in high school theatre. Diamond has essentially one look acting move- "hey, I'm an easy going guy!" and no range beyond that.
But then again, it's not like he was given great material to deal with. The bonus features on my DVD of the original 1927 version of The Jazz Singer stated the story was considered old, clichéd and sentimental even back then, so we really didn't an 80's update.
Diamond is Yussel Rabinovitch, the son of a (very) old Jewish cantor (Lord Laurence Oliver) who wants his son to follow his footsteps (we are told that five generations of the Rabinovitch family have been cantors). But eventually Yussel tires of the conservative Jewish community and stars hanging out with some hip black cats, including his best friend, Bubba (Franklyn Ajaye). The jive talking soul singers invite him to sit in on their band, the band is so good (actually, really bad) that Yussel decides to become a rock star, changing his name to Jess Robin. Through some plot contrivance Jess gets invited to meet with a record producer in LA, so he head out against his father's wishes (Cantor Rabinovitch is upset his son couldn't sing at a bar mitzvah). Of course, Jess becomes a big star and doesn't bother to tell is father that he is seeing a gentile record executive named Molly (Lucie Arnaz). This is really bothers the old man, who disowns his son. Do you think father and son reconcile?
In addition to the matter of the Diamond's acting, there is also the matter of the script, which is ludicrous. My favorite sequence involved Jess quitting the recording industry after he tires of being a rock star. Despite the fact he has big bucks he hitchhikes across the country, ending up almost homeless just before getting a job as a country star in a C&W bar. Despite the fact he is a noted rock musician, no one recognizes him.
Of course the best part of the film is the performance by Lord (by this time he had been promoted to the barony) Olivier, who is so good as the cantor that it draws even more attention to how awful Diamond is. This is a problem, since the movie is unaware of that Yussel/Jess is a dweeb and his father is actually the most sympathetic person in the film.
The only time this so-bad-it's-amazing movie gets truly bad is when Diamond sings, because his music is awful. I know from the writings of Dave Berry that Diamond has a cult of really fervent followers, but his generic and crappy songs do nothing for me. Oh, and by the way, nobody sings one bit of jazz in the entire movie.
The Jazz Singer (1980)