Horrible

Rating: 1/10 (11 January 2007)

I had high hopes for this, but damn is it horrible. I loved the original Dreamgirls with Jennifer Holliday but the film version is a travesty for anyone even slightly familiar with the original. I can't see how this movie gets any acclaim at all except from hype and people who spent their money and don't want to think they've been ripped off: well, they have been! And where did the movie makers find Jennifer Hudson? What a loser! To hear her massacre the songs by wailing them out in a level bellow instead of applying things like intonation and feeling -- she can't act worth spit either. And it may not be kind to say it but her character Effie is supposed to be 'full-figured', not a total blimp! Eddie Murphy's James Brown shtick is OK but not enough to save this glitzy pile of trash which is taking the place of the movie that should have been made of the play Dreamgirls -- a movie that would have engaged your feelings instead of just your eyes. Avoid this bomb; buy the original Broadway CD.