Watch Dreamgirls for all the great performances-especially Jennifer Hudson's

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2006)

Three days after Christmas, on a day I was off from work, I paid for admission for my two sisters and their husbands for this long-awaited movie version of one of the most popular Broadway musicals of the last 25 years. Of the five of us, only one of my brothers-in-law wasn't too enamored of Dreamgirls the movie thinking it was miscast with comedian Eddie Murphy and Danny "Lethal Weapon" Glover in it (though he liked the music like the rest of us). From beginning to end, Dreamgirls had the energy to push the drama and music in full force throughout the picture. Murphy is great playing soul pioneer James "Thunder" Early as he experiences both the ups and downs of his popularity especially whenever he had to entertain more discriminating audiences like the one at a mostly white Miami hotel. Jamie Foxx and Glover are wonderful as Early's younger and older managers whose clashing styles cause an end for one of them (though he resurfaces later on for one of the Dreams). Beyonce Knowles is okay with her part of the beauty Deena's rise to fame from backup to lead singer of her group. Anika Noni Rose is likewise with her Dreams role as a mistress to Early. But the best performance-bar none-is former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson as Effie especially when she sings the show stopper: "And I'm Telling You". I've read about the spontaneous applause in various movie theatres after this number and while our matinée attendance had a not even half-full audience I still heard some clapping inside. While the film loses some steam after that, Dreamgirls still has some entertaining music and moments through to the end. While watching this most superior movie musical, look for cameos of John Lithgow, John "The Office" Krasinski, and, as the talent booker who at first refuses to book the Dreamettes after they arrived late then lets them be the last one on, a grown-up Jaleel "Urkel" White.