Lives Up to the Hype - Indeed an Excellent Movie

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2007)

I deliberately waited until all the hype was done, all the awards were won, and until I was no longer tired of Beyonce to purchase and view Dreamgirls.
It is indeed an excellent presentation.
Directed by the director of Chicago, another fantastic musical (and that's saying a LOT as I am generally NOT into musicals) Dreamgirls brings to the screen the excellent Broadway production of the 80s that put Jennifer Holiday on the map.
Apart from top-notch production standards, wonderful costumes, fantastic music, and excellent performances all around, Dreamgirls is indeed another wonderful presentation of a slice of African-American life/culture that is worthy of any movie collection.
All performances were equally riveting. Of course we all recognize this as a thinly veiled retelling of the Motown/Supremes story. (Its a shame Florence did not have the happy ending Effie did, but such is life.) Jennifer Hudson's Oscar was indeed well-deserved. She was simply powerful though not necessarily a sympathetic character for the most part. To Beyonce's credit, she did not AT ALL try to be the focus and her performance was rightfully understated. Eddie Murphy was indeed wonderful as a composite of Little Richard, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, etc. Jamie Foxx was most competent and I am so glad he got a chance to sing a few songs - though not a sympathetic character at all, he is still a consummate actor and a major contributor to making this work on film.
I can certainly understand the standing ovations it got in some theaters and friends of mine who went to see it in a theaters attested to that.
It really should have been at least nominated for Best Picture but, alas, again, the nature of the beast!! (Remember "The Color Purple"?!!) Nothwithstanding, this is wonderful entertainment and I highly recommend it.