Baby... I can't take it no more.

Rating: 6/10 (3 February 2010)

I'm not certain I should be writing a review of 'Dreamgirls'. Not that there's anything seriously wrong with the film, but I was under the misapprehension that I was watching an interpretation of Diana Ross and the Supremes. In a way it is, but it's now up in the air whether anyone will back the real thing seeing that its 'been done already.' Confused? I certainly was. I was expecting a biopic in the vein of 'Ray' and 'Walk the Line'. What I got was more 'High School Musical.' Now I love a good tune as much as the next guy, particularly if its got a touch of urban soul to it, but when the character breaks out in song in the middle of a dramatic scene with a line such as, 'Ooh, you're gunna love me,' or 'I'm somebody, and nobody's gunna hold me down...,' then I was looking around for the paper bag.
Many of the songs are great and I'm sure it was fun on stage, but as the atmosphere had already been established, we had to wait until the song was over before the story could continue. As a piece of celluloid, I found this tedious. The vocals were strong but visually, there was not enough to hold an audience. I will admit that musicals are not really my thing, though I do relish a story that contains great music as in those previously mentioned films.
Two actors have been singled out for notice, particularly Jennifer Hudson who has the truth in her eyes and Eddie Murphy, who is also good though I think we're yet to see the best of him. Chances are the Oscar is theirs, (though Jackie Earle Haley deserves it over Murphy for Little Children) but I thought Jamie Foxx and Danny Glover were just as effective. Beyonce Knowles is a little like her character, great visually but a little thin on substance.
The screenplay by Bill Condon (Kinsey, Gods & Monsters) hints at so much more, the politics of the African American movement in the sixties, particularly in relation to their role in the music industry, the industry itself, the Watts riots, the price of fame, but just when it gets interesting, Condon forces his actors through yet another tune. Personally I was checking my watch.
Perhaps I'm missing the point, but they say the show ain't over till the fat lady sings. In 'Dreamgirls', she didn't sing early enough.