Dreamgirls (Widescreen Edition)

I finally watched "Dreamgirls" last weekend. Mostly I wanted to see it because it had won an Oscar, or should I say Jennifer Hudson won the Oscar for Supporting Actress. What a performance! To think she came from American Idol(and not the winner) and is such an amazing performer and actress. The movie seemed like the perfect vehicle for her rev up her movie career.
"Dreamgirls" reminded me a bit of the story of The Supremes. It is the 50's when it starts. Three back up singers for Eddie Murphy's Jimmy "Thunder" Early, dance and sing their way up to the front of the stage. Eventually they have their own girl group, The Dreams. Curtis Taylor, Jr. played by Jamie Foxx, is the manager of the group.
Beyonce Knowles plays the main singer, Deena Jones, who gets all the attention that I felt Effie White, Jennifer Hudson's character, deserved. I felt she got the shaft because she wasn't the imagine that they wanted for the group. She was the most talented. She knows it too, and eventually takes a bad turn away from the group.
"Dreamgirls" was a musical/play before it was a film and it transitioned well to onto the big screen. It had some great songs and was set from the 50's to the 60's. It's worth watching just to see Jennifer Hudson perform her Oscar winning performance.

I suspect one's reaction to this movie depends a lot on how one responds to the music. I could admire the performances, especially Hudson's, and some of the numbers were really rousing. Others were not. I must admit I had to fast-forward through more than one semi-operatic number.
This story seems to mirror the history of Diana Ross and the Supremes. Not being an expert, I have no idea how much of it is factual and how much merely semi-factual. The contrived "happy ending" was certainly the latter.
So, the pluses: some of the musical numbers, Hudson's performance, also Eddie Murphy who puts in a tremendous performance, his best for years.
The minuses: too long, too many tuneless tunes, cliched acting, especially by Foxx who is peculiarly wooden. Beyonce is incredibly beautiful but her talent is outshone by Hudson's.
Definitely worth renting but it's not a true classic.

"Dream Girls" is a brilliant, glitzy and thoroughly entertaining production. The women in the film sparkle with both talent, grace and beauty. The men, both entertainers and agents, are sleazy enough to want to make you take a good both after watching them. They are acquisitive, double-dealing and sleazy. Eddie Murphy as a James Brown surrogate does an especially great job. Consumed by intemperance and drugs he crashes out before the end of the movie. It is a little difficult to understand why the female "Dreams" love these creeps but...hey...it's Hollywood.

"The Dreams" are fairly clearly styled on the "Supremes" and their music and back up verges on the spectacular. The choreography is every bit as good as the original 'Supremes", maybe better. Effie, as the not quite so pretty and a little overweight member of the developing group that will become the "Dreams", is especially good. Despite the fact that she is the most talented member of the group she is tossed aside because their agent thinks she doesn't fit the beautiful image of the other girls. We feel her hurt and humiliation as she tries to survive without the music she loves. Effie, if I'm not mistaken, is an Aretha Franklin type character, not beautiful, perhaps, but a terrific talent.

Anyway, most of the scuzzy men in the film are ultimately left in the dust but the glorious 'Dreams' go on to greater glory.

Ron

(written by Leigh's wife): I had been looking forward to seeing this for quite a while, but couldn't find a Widescreen copy. I was interested in seeing if it was all it was hyped up to be. I was particularly interested in seeing the performances by Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyonce Knowles and, of course, Jennifer Hudson.

My opinions:

I do not like Jamie Foxx as a comedian; however, he is definitely growing on me as a dramatic actor! Seeing him in this and, more recently, "The Kingdom", he is impressive.

I sincerely hope that Jennifer Hudson is thumbing her nose at those stupid "American Idol" people. She was fantastic! She could be both tough and naive at the same time. She impressed me; she deserved her Oscar.

Beyonce is beautiful. Her singing is OK; I'm glad that her character in the movie was admitted as not a strong singer, but more asthetically pleasing. She seemed to be playing to type.

Eddie Murphy...what a disappointment. I will admit that I have never, ever liked him (I have ONLY liked him in "Mulan"). He is very much a one-note performer. All he was doing was channelling his famous SNL "Hot Tub" skit. His speech pattern, short and choppy, got extremely annoying after a while. I would have liked to have seen someone else - ANYONE else - in this role.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and it was worth the purchase.

The story is ordinary in this category, not much surprise. But the songs are great. Very easy listening and the sound effect is good! Never imagine I like this kind of film so much.