movie musicals for the MTV generation

Rating: 6/10 (16 February 2007)

After some huge box office flops, ("Mame", "Darling Lili", "Star" etc) it began to become clear that the era of the big Hollywood movie musical was over. It took much ingenuity to be able to resuscitate the genre and only on occasion did it work. It would take the likes of a Bob Fosse to create the sensation that was "Cabaret" or a Milos Foreman to re-invent "Hair". (I personally admire "Man of La Mancha" though I know I'm in the minority on this one).
Bill Condon's approach to the screen musical in not rooted in the Hollywood tradition but rather in the MTV video clip. It's a valid and legitimate approach since he is aiming at the MTV generation who would have little interest in Broadway musicals adapted for the screen.
"Dreamgirls" has all the hallmarks of the best and worst of MTV. It looks spectacular. It would have to, after all, look and style is everything. Whatever "Dreamgirls" may lack it certainly abounds in look and style.
The problem is that the MTV viewer is perceived, probably correctly, as having an extremely limited attention span. The scenes in "Dreamgirls" are abnormally short. They barely settle in when the camera zaps to yet another brief and perfectly styled scene. The result is that no depth of character is allowed to develop.
It will be interesting to see how successful "Dreamgirls" proves at the box office. This will determine whether Condon's concept is to be encouraged by the industry. While his concept is valid, one can only hope that it will be one that will become something more than a very extended video clip.