Review

Review Date: 31-December-06
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Dreamgirls (2006)

The Oscar buzz for "Dreamgirls" began over a year ago following the success of "Chicago," another Broadway hit to get a big screen marquee with Hollywood names. Now the buzz has become a roar, with Golden Globe nods in the motion picture and acting categories. Indeed Bill Condon's movie of the show — about a black women's singing group in the '60s and '70s — deserves nominations for sound, costuming, and other technical accomplishments, but it's not what I would call stellar cinema. The story and characters take a back seat to the music; the emotion and conflict are generated by voice and song. Such a production seems best suited for another medium (like the stage). Yet from the standpoint of strict entertainment, "Dreamgirls" isn't hampered by its limitations.

The cast members of this melodious melodrama are as notable as the tunes they sing. At the bottom of the playbill is Danny Glover (who doesn't sing at all) as a show biz manager from Detroit whose meager thunder is stolen by a conniving Jamie Foxx. Although he recently won an Oscar playing scrappy singer Ray Charles, Foxx disappoints by doing nothing with car salesman-turned-music promoter Curtis Taylor. The script asks him to vacillate between an all-right guy driven by his passions (ambition, desire) and the villain of the piece, but his performance is as lackluster as his voice. The prominent male presence is therefore supplied by Keith Robinson as a songwriter and Eddie Murphy as a flamboyant R&B singer in constant (and perilous) need of fulfillment.

But the movie is really about the ladies, and they definitely stand out. Evolving from a club act to touring back-up singers to superstars atop the charts, the Dreams trace the familiar arc of fame and illustrate the toll it takes on a person's heart and soul. The trio includes Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), a sweetheart looking for Mr. Right; Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), a beauty just feeling her way; and Effie (Jennifer Hudson), a woman whose enormous vocal talent is matched by the chip on her shoulder, which makes it very hard for her to accept either love or defeat. A rivalry develops between the latter two, sending one to the heights of celebrity and the other to the depths of despair. This gives the singer-actresses their moments to shine: Hudson in the heartbreaking cry of desperation, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," and Knowles in the equally heartfelt plea for independence, "Listen." Both scenes brought tears to this reviewer's eyes, something which the rest of the movie lacked the power to do.

"Dreamgirls" is a musical first, a spectacle second, and a drama third. It's a satisfying experience, on the whole, if not an Oscar-caliber film.

Copyright © 2006 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.