Dreamgirls

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I'm starting this thread in anticipation of seeing the film tomorrow. D-Dad and I saw this on Broadway a zillion years ago, and we're interested in seeing the film version. If nothing else, we already love the soundtrack. I'm not expecting much from Beyonce, but Eddie Murphy should be fine, and Jamie Foxx has evolved into an excellent actor, so I'm anticipating that this should be enjoyable.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

We really enjoyed Dreamgirls. After Chicago, this was the best film adaptation of a Broadway musical that I have seen. Jennifer Hudson was quite good in the role that earned Jennifer Holliday a Tony Award (her acting was serviceable, but her singing was incredible), Beyonce did a nice job in a role that's based on Diana Ross, Jamie Foxx was very strong as the male lead, and Eddie Murphy was amazing in a crucial supporting role. The music is wonderful, and the cinematography is both beautiful and successful in showcasing the time period (mid 60's through mid 70's). Try to see this in a theater if you can - it really benefits from the big screen, as well as from seeing it with an audience.

I'm not sure whether it's my favorite movie of the year (I'm still leaning towards Little Miss Sunshine, which was so much more of a detailed story), but it was excellent.

[Vic Sage]

I"m not a big fan of the show, but i thought the movie was pretty good. Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy (yes, Eddie Murphy) are spectacular and the filmmaking is of a pretty high caliber.

The score consists of one emotional power ballad after another, and sounds like Motown via Tin Pan Alley. Still, it was more effective than i remembered. Some of the new songs are good, too. Hudson's rendition of AND I'M TELLIN YOU (I'M NOT GOING) is one of the most incredible musical movie moments ever recorded and makes the film debut of this AMERICAN IDOL runner-up a surefire Oscar winner.

I did have some quibbles. First of all, 2 of the 3 girls aren't particularly good actresses. Beyonce is given almost nothing to do aside from stand there and look pretty (which she does well), but thats as much a problem with the book as it is with the performance. They give her a new song to do at the end, just so there is some reason for her to be in this movie, but it is too little, too late, and seems more like an outtake from some other movie. Also, this is Jamie Foxx's least interesting performance. Again, more a problem with the book than the actor, but he usually rises above mediocre material. Not here.

My main problem was the use of the musical idiom. In CHICAGO the same screenwriter used a brilliant technique of having all the musical numbers play out from the point of view of Roxy Hart (they are musical hallucinations inside her head). Here, at first we are seeing the music performed onstage, as actual performances. Its not until 10 or 15 minutes into the movie that you get a song outside, on the street, where characters are singing to each other in furtherance of the narrative, and it comes as a very jarring experience. You need to establish at the very beginning the musical device and how it will be employed. This movie fails to do that.

On the whole, though, it was still very good.

[Guest sharpie]

Saw it on the plane to Vienna. No like it.

Jamie Foxx and Beyonce were totally unbelievable, Jennifer Hudson sang well but IMO had few acting chops. The other Dreamgirl was a nonentity. Some of the songs were good as was Eddie Murphy but overall a dud.