Vibrant, intense, colorful.

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2020)

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I decided to see this movie. I knew it was a musical but I honestly thought it was based on the life of the Supremes, a group of American soul singers. Is not true. The film is based on a Broadway musical that portrays the rise of a group of singers that was inspired by the Supremes. Perhaps that is why the film immediately lost some points for me. But that does not mean that the film is bad! On the contrary, it has immense quality.
Being a musical film, music is at the center of everything. The film has a vast soundtrack and the songs follow one after another for more than two hours in length, as if it were an Italian opera. The production spared no effort in this field, making the most of the powerful set of voices that it enlisted for the film. Beyoncé, for her fame and solid career as a pop singer, is probably the most resonant name on the poster, but I personally thought that Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy were perfectly capable of matching and accompanying her. Murphy was, by the way, surprising because his musical side is not something that stood out in my eyes until I saw this film. Some of the songs are in the ear and are truly memorable, as is the case with "Listen", "Move" and "Patience".
Bill Condon ensured an efficient and capable direction, but not always without blemish. To begin with, the film is a little too long for the story that it tells and drags on several times. I also felt that Condon sometimes sacrificed the script at the expense of the visuals and music. This is always a mistake, in my opinion. It is useless for a film to look beautiful and have beautiful music if the story is not solid and, in fact, with so much music it was difficult to follow the plot and there are moments when it seems to stumble, being overshadowed by music and visual brightness. There are still some parts of the plot that sound bad or have been frankly underdeveloped.
The cast is notable and full of heavyweights. I already talked a little about them but I will mention a few things again: Beyoncé sang wonderfully and proved to be solid enough as an actress when she wants to; Eddie Murphy surprised by showing his musical side, but also maintained a very strong dramatic interpretation. Being used to seeing him in comic roles, it was really interesting to see him work here. Jamie Foxx is good but I think he had little screen time to show everything he is worth. Anika Noni Rose had a discreet and slow start but was given more time and material to show value as the film evolved. Finally, we have to give a standing ovation to the devastating Jennifer Hudson. If Beyoncé was graceful when singing, Hudson showed power. What voice! And what a great actress! Her performance is truly, in itself, a reason to see this film.
Technically, I would positively highlight the excellent sets and costumes, which were able to take advantage of and bring to the cinema the glamor and brilliance of the musical world of the 50s and 60s. Cinematography also helped, with the bet on vibrant colors and fast filming, which seems to be able to keep up with the songs. Of course, in deeper or more reflective moments, cinematography changes radically, with a bet on deeper colors and a more calming look. But these are not new, they are cinematographic techniques that have always been used.
The film was acclaimed when it came out and received immense nominations for the Oscars and Golden Globes that, of course, did not translate into automatic prizes. Hudson really deserved the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and the overall quality of the film guaranteed the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing. It also received several nominations for Best Original Song, and I still don't understand how it lost that statuette for a documentary where the strong point is far from music and the winning song, despite being very good, it doesn't seem as good or rich as any of the nominated outputs of this film.
Intense, vibrant, with a powerful set of voices, songs and interpretations, this film is unavoidable for musical lovers and is worth it for its overall quality, despite not being free from flaws or problems. Personally, and despite feeling a little disappointed in my expectations since I expected a story based on a real music group, I believe it was worth it and that I was able to enjoy the best that this film has to offer.