wow

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2006)

I must honestly say that I went into this film convinced that I was not going to like it. I felt that it was overly-hyped since day one, and I was looking forward to saying i told you so. Instead, I'm eating humble pie because this was not just a great film, but an experience. The film was well acted, but in the end, it was the Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy show. Hudson was AMAZING. In her highlight song, 'I'm Gonna Tell You' the crowd applauded 3 times. At the end of the number you could just feel the crowd holding back in expectation of one more uproarious applause. The crowd also ate up Eddie Murphy, just at it up. And yes, Beyonce has one beautiful number too, with the original song written for the film 'Listen.' She got a nice applause for that too. OK, here's the thing, the crowd I saw it with was a 12:30 pm matinée in suburban Atlanta that was actually sold out. Generally, this is a pretty passive crowd but they really loved this film. The crowd applauded 8 times during the show. During the end credits, about 8 or 9 members of the cast were billed, and then finally, the show stealer, Jennifer Hudson, and the crowd went crazy one last time. Again, this was very unusual behavior for a suburban matinée crowd, and I think that says something. I think Jennifer Hudson is going to need to start getting her acceptance speech ready for this one, and maybe Eddie Murphy too. It's not the best picture of the year, but it is the most entertaining big budget blockbuster show!