Jennifer Hudson saves this weak Broadway show

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2014)

Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) is a hustler car salesman who weasel his way into managing the naive Dreamettes; Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose). They start singing backup for James 'Thunder' Early (Eddie Murphy) who is a womanizing James Brown type. Then Curtis schemes and hustle his way into a record empire.
The production feels very Broadway. The songs are not always good. The best thing in the movie is the performance of Jennifer Hudson as the brassy Effie White. Eddie Murphy does good dramatic work in support. Without the break out performance of Hudson, this is just a show tune Broadway show with big singing voices. She puts in a powerful performance, and it would have been great to see an Effie White movie.