Half of a Great Musical

Rating: 6/10 (22 February 2008)

Dreamgirls is half of a great musical. The first 50 minutes are wonderfully choreographed, sung, and acted. Everything moves along at a breathtaking pace.
But then something strange happens. Screen time that had previously been shared between the 3 "Dreams" begins to force the best of the performers, Tony award winner Anika Noni Rose, into the background. More and more attention becomes focused on the very bland Beyonce/Deena character. Beyonce has the voice and is great in the dance numbers, but falls flat during her dramatic scenes. It doesn't help that the ballad she is forced to share with Jamie Fox/Curtis is one of the weakest songs from the stageplay.
Jennifer Hudson is slightly more tolerable in the role of Effie. Her singing is fantastic, but (despite the Oscar win) she doesn't have the acting chops to pull off the dramatic scenes that come late in the film. This is unfortunate, because she's great in the opening numbers.
Working hard to save the film are Rose and an outstanding Eddie Murphy. But, sadly, Rose/Lorrell's Ain't No Party number does not appear in the film at all, apparently to prevent her from outshining the other girls. It's unfortunate, because leaving that number in, and cutting back on some of the slow, poorly acted drama we're forced to view would make the film dramatically more watchable.
My final score: 6/10