Lavish and excellent adaptation of the famous Broadway musical; Hudson & Murphy top-notch & Oscar worthy

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2007)

DREAMGIRLS (2006) ***1/2 Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, Danny Glover ,Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal, Hinton Battle, Loretta Devine, John Krasinski, John Lithgow. Lavish and excellent adaptation of the famous Broadway musical about the triumphs and travails of '60s R&B performers The Dreams (loosely based on Diana Ross & The Supremes), and the mechanics devised by Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Foxx), a used car salesman turned music impresario (a truly cunning metaphor if there ever was one) whose betrayals to his lover Effie Melody White (newcomer Hudson in an Oscar-worthy turn), the real talent of the trio, and to legend-in-the-making entertainer James "Thunder" Early (Murphy, in arguably the role of his career, equally impressive), sets the plots in motion where the American Dream gets a complete makeover. Director Bill Condon does a masterful job of old-school razzle dazzle and Hollywood panache as well as his screenplay making the characters come alive and again Hudson gives an amazing show-stopping turn with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" burns down the house.