DREAMGIRLS (Bill Condon, 2006) ***

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2007)

Adapted from a Broadway show but with additional numbers written specifically for the film, this is a rare and brave attempt at an all-black musical. While it was surprising to have GODS AND MONSTERS (1998)'s Bill Condon at the helm, it is confidently made and the musical numbers are energetically staged. Interestingly, the songs aren't just performances by the central group or their irreverent front-man but, at particularly dramatic moments, also serve as a commentary on the narrative itself.
While I don't feel that the kind of music involved here can sustain a film of this length (unlike, say, a rock opera) and the second half is incredibly maudlin, the film succeeds by virtue of its meticulous recreation of an era (the hairstyles are fairly hilarious though) and its sounds, and the sheer force of the acting ensemble. Of these, the most acclaimed have deservedly been Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson: the former clearly delivers his best-ever performance as a James Brown-like R&B singer (not that it was hard for him to top his work in the films he's been making for the past 20 years!) but he only really shines in his character's last number, where he goes on stage drunk and embarrasses himself in front of live and TV audiences; in hindsight, his storming off of the Academy Awards ceremony for failing to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was an infantile gesture. As for Jennifer Hudson, prior to watching the film I was skeptical about how deserving she really was of all the accolades her role garnered but, actually, her performance is the best and most heartfelt in the film and she manages to steal all the scenes she's in from under the noses of her more seasoned colleagues.
Having said all that, however, where the film falls is in the blandness and predictability of the narrative: there was no way the Beyonce' character was not going to be boosted to diva status, no way Eddie Murphy was not going to fall for one of the Dreamettes, no way he was not going to end up dead, no way his manager (played by Danny Glover) was not going to be pushed by the wayside, etc. The "reunion" happy ending, too, is something of a cop-out because the film, after exposing the underbelly of the music industry, steers clear of addressing how this will eventually affect the fate of its protagonists.