Moments of Brilliance...Mostly Average...

Rating: 5/10 (6 April 2007)

Oh, what could've been.
"Dreamgirls" is Bill Condon's latest creation which follows three black female singers, a songwriter, a manager and their ascent to the top of the pop charts in the late 60s to the mid 70s Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) have been singing their whole lives and much of it together. They are three talented singers who all compliment each other very well and perform the songs of Effie's brother C.C. (Keith Robinson) to perfection.
They are always looking for their big break, which comes one night after being seen at a talent competition by Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) who convinces them to go on tour with James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy) as his backup singers.
Taylor is a car salesman who goes on the road with them and seemingly muscles his way into becoming Early's manager and closely watches after the girls and falls in love with Effie.
After helping to somewhat revive a slowly fading career of Early, the three singers land their own deal to perform shows in Miami. The Dreamettes are born and quickly rise in popularity.
Effie begins to become frustrated with her role in the group and what appears to be her fading spot in Taylor's heart. One night she leaves without any notice and comes back the night of one of their shows only to find that she has been kicked out of the group and replaced by Michelle Morris (Sharon Leal) The Dreamettes become one of the most popular groups of their time and Effie fades into obscurity. The movie pretty much chronicles the ugly side of the music business. From the side of the Dreamettes and from the side of Effie.
Dreamgirls is a fun movie at times. The music is upbeat and entertaining for the most part, but music alone can't carry a movie. It can carry a "Musical" but not a movie that is supposed to be Oscar worthy.
Dreamgirls lacks heart and depth. It attempts to make up for it at times, but each time reaches too far and comes up empty.
Jennifer Hudson is everything she has been rumored to be...great. She will undoubtedly be nominated for an Oscar and may even win. Eddie Murphy isn't too bad either. Everyone else in the movie is decent at best.
There are some scenes during this movie that you watch and marvel at, but then you quickly come back down to earth when you realize that those moments are few and far between.
5/10