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Rating: 6/10 (4 February 2007)

this was generally a well mounted production but i came away feeling that it was good when it could have been great some of the music was regrettably lame film isn't Broadway and i think such things should be taken into consideration but for every song that made me cringe there were at least two that sold me beyond that, the major fault i found with the film was the cutting and camera movements in the musical sequences abundant cutting can help a scene's rhythm and feeling but my main feeling with musicals is that this rhythm and vivacity should be communicated by the performances the camera should be a passive observer this sort of cutting is better suited to music videos which only have a few minutes to leave their mark in a feature length film, it can be tiresome jennifer hudson's performance for her big song is everything it needs to be without however many cuts there are in the sequence the amount of camera movement also deemphasized movements that would have been more impressive had they not been lost in a sea of mobile framing (the arcing motion that leaves the dreams in a silhouette against an adoring audience)
i'm not saying that there should be no cutting or movement in a musical sequence, but as these techniques are employed in this film, they distract from the real stars the cast was solid all around and the film's strongest asset hudson and murphy both dynamite
i totally bought beyonce foxx made an excellent slimeball without completely abandoning our sympathy supporting players distinct, developed, fun and likable it's the sort of story that's been told a million times that's why i feel a story isn't necessarily as important as how its told the material here felt like it was exciting and important to all involved but it didn't entirely escape the clichés of its trappings, which i acknowledge is a tall order
i respected the film in general more than i liked it but keep trying Hollywood you might just make another real musical yet