Jennifer Hudson was the star of the show

Rating: 5/10 (13 February 2007)

This film is good. But it could have been great. That is why I decided on 5 instead of 6 out of 10. It had so much potential. But there were too many stories to tell, parallel to the main premise, in too short a time, despite it's 2-hour running time. It gives the illusion of doing it's best to tell as much of the stories of every character as possible and does seem fair in giving each story a relatively even amount of time. But I felt Effie and James "Thunder" Early had the best stories with Curtis Taylor's influence on them and his relationship with Deena being the best subplot. Throw in a little bit more of the historical events and it would have worked better as a whole. But trying to tell every story and subplot meant that the meaty stories didn't get the time and space they deserved. That is how I viewed it. But my biggest criticism was singing where normal dialogue would have been much more effective. I know it was adapted from a stage show, but I went to the cinema to see a MOVIE. I expected a lot of singing in this. But it should have been limited to studio, stage and rehearsals. It got annoying towards the latter end when conversation would have been much more effective at telling the story offstage. It wasn't all bad. Jennifer Hudson was the absolute star of the show for me. She's a beautiful woman with a magnificent voice who played her diva-come-good part like an old pro. Sure singing is her thing but I'd like to see her in a meaty(no pun intended) drama to see how she'd do away from a musical role. Her acting skills had potential here. She had a "Belter" of a song in the scene where she discovered she was being replaced in the Dreams.She cried tears and carried the emotion with aplomb. But it would have been even more effective if there was dialogue instead of singing in the "conversation" leading up to that pivotal moment. Eddie Murphy was the other stand out performance. His part on it's own would have made for a great movie. I felt he could have done so much more with the role given the time and space. Maybe the reason Jamie Foxx's excellent performance didn't stand out, was because I've come to expect excellence from an Oscar winner. Just like the movie, there is so much I could say here, but there is too much going on and I have limited time and space. Sums up this movie for me. It's definitely watchable. But it might not seem so good on the small screen. So don't wait for the DVD. See it on the big screen.