What would this be without Ms. Hudson?

Rating: 5/10 (6 January 2007)

It is flashy and contains some very interesting musical numbers. The principals walk, strut, glide, and move around in impressive costumes. Beyonce looks gorgeous in some of the still shots that are scattered through the film and on some of the sets' walls. There is even a thunderous musical number by Jennifer Hudson that threatens to sink the rest of the movie because of its intensity.
"Dreamgirls" feels like a movie of the week, made for television, with some impressive production touches. It is "loosely" based on one of the most successful musical groups of all times, and it is peppered with enough intrigue to have made the film more captivating and interesting, both in its screenplay and some of the musical numbers. Unfortunately for us in the audience, we have to sit through some of the most derivative and boring lyrics that ever reached the big screen. The group in question did succeed, but it did because its music was some of the most entertaining ever to reach the top of the charts. The trio in the movie sounds more like a reject from "American Idol". In fact, was it not for Hudson's warm and lively character, we'd be wasting our money.
There the issue in question of what happened to the transition of this musical from its early 80's origin to its final presentation. Unlike "Chicago" which carried some very imaginative staging and clever and memorable lyrics, along with some fiery performances, this one lacks the most important ingredient a movie like this needs: real soul. I kept wondering what it would be like had they placed a real actress in the leading role, and had someone gone back and reworked some of the music. As a reference, there is a bunch of penguins out there who took some classic pop music and showed us how universal the power of music is, and these were cartoon characters who took a life of their own. In here, we are saddled with characters based on real people who are treated like cartoon characters, and it isn't even a parody.
Skip it and look for Ms. Hudson's video.