Must see, if only for the music

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2006)

As one who saw Simon Cowell's putdown of Jennifer Hudson, I can only say, "What was he thinking?" The movie is worth the time and the money. The music principals deliver the numbers splendidly with electrifying effect. The opening scenes leading to the trio's number at the competition is one of the highest energy openers I have ever watched in a movie. Later on, all the individual performances are held together enough so that they don't become unrelated numbers as in a singing contest. The talents of the performers, musical and non-musical are smoothly presented. The characters played by Danny Glover, Jamie Foxx and Keith Robinson held the non-musical stage together ably enough so that the musical numbers had a believable social context to play to.
Watching this movie, I realized that there is a difference between a singing musical and a dancing musical. I would probably be more motivated to see a dancing musical (e.g. Strictly Ballroom) more than once. Please don't ask how many times I did, it's a number greater than 5 (embarrassed). But then again, I watch "The Sound of Music" any time it's on. As for "Dreamgirls" I wouldn't mind watching Jennifer, Beyonce, Anika and Eddie Murphy do it many times again.