More than your average Razzle Dazzle!

Rating: 6/10 (2 February 2007)

I was not looking forward to Dreamgirls all that much, it was only after the Oscar nominations, raving reviews and just intriguing trailers that made me realise the movie might just scrape average territory in my book. But as I sat down to watch this movie I actually had no idea how much in love I would get with this movie. You see despite Dreamgirls being your typical showbiz musical, rags to riches story, this movie had something that many musicals and actually many movies lack. It has style, soul and most importantly of all a huge heart. While many musicals go for an all out lavish affair to distract the audience this movie goes for lavish, great directing, great acting and amazing songs. To make the movie even better add two of the greatest performances you will probably find in all of 2007, add onto that a score to die for and your set to watch one of the movies that will undoubtedly feature in my top 10 of 2007.
The story for Dreamgirls follows the Dreamettes, a trio of girls who one day dream of hitting the big time and getting their own act. In the Dreamettes there is the beautiful Deena Jones, the middle girl Lorrell Robinson, and finally big busty Effie White. Each of the girls has their own distinct personalities, and combined they are superb singers that just have never had their big break yet. That is until ex-care salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. is able to hitch the girls up alongside James "The Thunder" Early and get them to sing backup. They finally get their big break, and despite it being slightly annoying to be singing behind the legendary Jimmy Early they are happy. Then Curtis comes up with a miracle, he is able to get the Dreamettes their own act with Jimmy, only on the condition that Effie is no longer the front singer and that Deena takes her place. Of course this does not go down well, especially since Effie is obviously the most naturally talented of the three despite being the biggest. The Dreamettes go under the new title of the Dreams and they become an overnight sensation. However with fame comes an ultimate price, greed and selfishness. Resulting in the girls bickering, getting their own personal problems and betrayal between everyone. The plot for Dreamgirls as I have previously mentioned is your typical rags to riches tale, and admittedly it is at times very predictable. However where the movies storyline gains its power is in the performances and of course the absolutely stunning songs.
The first superb performance I will mention is the leading lady of the movie, the ex-Destiny's Child, the one time Pink Panther eye candy, and now a true actress in her own rite, Beyonce Knowles. Here she is not the best actress in the movie, but what she does display is some amazing talent, talent that after seeing her in Austin Powers and Pink Panther I never dreamt imaginable. Her character Deena isn't the best at first, in fact in comparison to the other characters she seems almost bland. However, its towards the end, right after the middle section actually, when she becomes something of a diva, that the movie really displays her talents. Of course where Beyonce really comes alive is when she is singing, and boy can she sing. When she gets to belt out her main song of the movie, Listen, she really comes to life before your eyes. Of course compared to the likes of Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx she loses her power, but when she's on her own you can't help but admire just how far her character has come. However her character is overshadowed by another one of the girls in the movie, that actress is in actual fact a complete newcomer to acting and was once on American Idol! Jennifer Hudson has so far been nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar and won numerous awards for her performance, saying she deserves these awards is not giving her justice whatsoever. You see Hudson is amazing in this movie, her character has the best personality, and best lines, but Hudson adds a believability factor to the character that many other actresses might have failed to inspire. Her singing is also several notches better than Beyonce's as well, in fact in the films highlight when she sings "I'm not going" is so powerful its unbelievable. As her character develops to the stunningly staged climax you realise just how brilliant Hudson is and how we might have a new actress worthy of a lot of awards on our hands. Other notable performances are for Eddie Murphy, equally deserving the Oscar he's been nominated for, and also Jamie Foxx who is a great villain.
So then does Dreamgirls have faults? Well some might argue that its a bit long, some might argue that the movie has too many songs, some might even argue its all a bit too lavish for their liking. I on the other hand was one of the people who merely lapped it all up and loved every single second of it. I will admit though that The middle girl of the Dreams was pretty pointless at times, her relationship with Eddie Murphy's Jimmy is touching, but unfortunately sidelines which made the sudden reintroduction of it quite frustrating. Its not that the girls performance is bad, in fact she's damn good, but she's never given room to really develop as a character in the movie. Apart from that I really can't think of anything to complain about, Dreamgirls in my eyes was a superb example of a stage adaptation and also a musical to be remembered.