A good musical brought up by stellar back-up performances!!!

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2006)

Stars: Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudsen, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Anika Rose, Keith Robinson, John Lithgow.
I'm going to start this review with the parts that blew me away first. Jennifer Hudsen, an ex-American Idol top 12 member, played the role of Essie, and I feel she could easily win best supporting actress this year. She sang wonderfully, and she was excellent. The next actor that really amazed me was Eddie Murphy. Not only did Eddie Murphy sing brilliantly, but he played a sleaze bag role that was still a very sympathetic character that you actually cared about. The direction was great, and the writing was great. The negatives for this...none really. I didn't think any of the other actors did a particularly excellent job, except maybe Glover who just has a screen presence about him. I really enjoyed this film, and I recommend you see it!! My rating: *** out of ****. 127 mins. PG-13 for Language, Sex, and Drug Use.