The Jazz Singer (1980 film)

A 1980 remake of the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, starring Neil Diamond.

Neil Diamond's character is the son of Rabbi Rabinovitz (Laurence Olivier) and a cantor like his father. But he wants to be a pop singer (the "jazz" in this version is metaphorical). Early on, he is sneaking out to sing with a soul group--and yes, he's in blackface. Or rather, brownface--he's trying to look like the real blacks he's with, not the stereotypes in the Minstrel Shows. Don't worry, once he leaves NYC, he reverts back to his normal coloring and stays there.

One of the songs he has written for his band, under the name Robbins, has gotten greater notice, and so he is asked to bring himself and his song to California, where it is to be recorded by a British singer. This does not go over well with his father or his wife, but he goes ahead and flies west. He is met in California by the woman who will become his agent.

They drop into the recording studio. Robbins severely dislikes what the other British musician is doing with his song. He sings it to show how it should be done. (For the record, the song in question is "Love on the Rocks".) The musician rejects the correction and continues doing it his own way. But Robbins stays in California with his agent, who gets him a booking: "Pretend we've never seen each other" to a fella who has never seen her before but who owns a venue.

Montage as time passes. The agent is so much of a goy that she tries to serve Robbins ham. Still, they spend a lot of time together, and Robbins writes love songs for her. Yes, she is his lover. All this necessarily hurts his marriage, and his wife eventually flies out to get a divorce and inform him that he's still wanted as a cantor. His father also flies out to see him. After it has been suitably established that he is living with and loving a Gentile girl, and not being very observant in other ways -- he doesn't even use the original name -- Rabbi Rabinovitz leaves saying "I Have No Son!" This shakes him...

His star keeps rising. But right before the biggest gig of his life, he has a Heroic BSOD and skips town. He is eventually found in Texas or thereabouts.

He eventually does do service as a cantor one more time. His agent tries to get him another gig around the same time: "Pretend you don't know me" to the same guy she said it to before, and he really wishes he could. The fella is reluctant to make the booking because Robbins skipped town last year when he was supposed to be doing a huge televised gig, but she is able to talk the fella into giving him a slot and making the slot a full five minutes. The film ends with a rousing performance of "America".

Say what you will about the plot and acting of this film -- if you like Neil Diamond's music, it's worth seeing.


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