A fantastic period piece

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 2007)

I was expecting this movie to be great, but it was even better than I thought it would be. Jennifer Hudson does a great job here, she sings with a clear voice and wide vocal range and does a great job acting for a first time actress. Beyonce proves she can act here, doing a fantastic job portraying her character, plus she also sings very well. Jamie Foxx played his character well too. Eddie Murphy does both comedy and drama well. Anika Noni Rose provides some comic relief throughout the film and Keith Robinson plays the role of the songwriter very well. Danny Glover rounds out the cast with a great portrayal as an experienced manager. All these actors and actresses were a very good ensemble cast.
The story was adapted very well from the Broadway musical, which had a good book, but one that also had flaws. The character are more expanded from what they were in stage musical and the film is very dramatic with a few light moments to balance it all out. The musical moments are well balanced with spoken scenes, unlike other recent musical films. The entire score is fantastic and the new songs fit perfectly with the music from the original stage musical. The choreography, lighting and costumes all make the musical scenes very entertaining. The film also shows the social climate of the era while showing how the music business operates. All in all, this is a very good film which tells a story without moving too slowly. It's one of the only movies I've been to that has received applause in the theater, which really says a lot since that doesn't happen often at movies. This is great adaptation to a great Broadway musical and is worth seeing.