Dreamgirls (15 December 2006)
directed by Bill Condon
starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Jennifer Hudson, Ankia Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal, David Bennett
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MPAA rating: Studio: DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures Script: Bill Condon, Tom Eyen Music: Henry Krieger Running time: 131 minutes Awards: 2007 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, 2007 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, 2007 Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Tags: 1960s; 1970s; broadway musical adaptation; Drama; drug use; Musical Tactical strength: [7/10]
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for language, some sexuality and drug content
Dreamgirls tells the story of a fictional singing group, the Dreams, a 1960s trio of black women made up of Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), Effie (Jennifer Hudson), and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose). The trio starts out at a talent contest and gets noticed by promoter Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx), who arranges for the girls to sing backup to James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Effie doesn't want to take the job, but Curtis convinces them that they need this initial step before they can break off on their own. Curtis does seem to have his pulse on the music market. He creates his own music label, and manages to get his black performers played on the predominately white radio stations. As part of transforming the Dreams into a pop group, Curtis makes Deena the lead singer over Effie -- a transition over which Effie quits the group. Curtis quickly finds Michelle (Sharon Leal) as a replacement, and the Dreams continue to perform.
Curtis continues to manage the group into the 1970s. He marries Deena and tries to expand her reach into films. We start to see that Curtis makes decisions based entirely on expanding his business and puts business before his personal relationships. His marriage falls apart and he abandons James Early, which leads his head songwriter C. C. White (Keith Robinson) to quit as well. Although Curtis's like takes a downturn, the other Dreamgirls have a revival. Effie makes a comeback solo career and joins the Dreams on stage at a farewell performance.
You couldn't ask much more from a musical: excellent singing, great arrangements, wonderful choreography, and dazzling costumes and sets. I did find the tunes more toe-tapping than emotionally stirring. Many of the music selections went on way too long, which seems common for Broadway adaptations. At least Dreamgirls had an entire repertoire of songs, unlike some other popular musical that rely on two or three major themes for a three-hour production. I also liked that the styles of the costumes and the music nicely changed with the time the scene represented. At one point, the Dreams had huge 1970s hair.
I do have a few complaints, such as sloppy lip sync work. Also, while I think Eddie Murphy did an excellent job as James Early, I would have preferred an actor who could have done his own singing. Jamie Foxx does his own singing, and his voice flaws enhance his character rather than distract from the performance. The movie progresses with regular dialogue interspersed with performances, then all of a sudden, one of the characters starts to sing a song about the situation. At that point, I had to make a mental adjustment that I should expect such things in musicals. A few lines of sung dialogue spread through the earlier parts of the film would have established the musical mode and spared me the mid-film jolt.
Dreamgirls provides a fun, musical and visual experience without a whole lot of character depth. Tap your toe, enjoy the fun, but don't look too deeply into the storyline.
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