Dreamgirls (2006)

Based loosely on the careers of 1960s and 70s Motown divas Diana Ross and the Supremes, Dreamgirls was entertaining at best, though mostly just long and predictable.

It’s a big-budget musical, so the costumes are really neat, as is the lighting. The movie is more than two hours long, with the first half chronicling the Dreamette’s rise to stardom, and the very, very long second half of the film showing the emotional breakdown of the characters and their lives. It’s a quintessential musical, and while I love musicals, if they’re not done right they can all seem the same. In the first half of the film, the singing is only done while the performers are actually performing to an audience on a stage, or if they’re in a recording studio. I loved that; it seemed organic, even though the songs themselves sounded nothing like what Motown really sounds like. The second half of the movie is when the singing as dialogue begins, and it was unoriginal.

The film had been in the works for more than 20 years, ever since the Broadway musical debuted in 1981. After the success of the movie Chicago, Dreamgirls was finally made, and with an all-star cast of Eddie Murphy, Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx and Danny Glover. Jaleel White, better known as Steve Urkel from the TV show Family Matters, even had a small role in the film.

The one part of the movie that I loved was Jennifer Hudson’s portrayal of Effie White, the overweight girl with the big personality and amazing, soulful voice who is ultimately cut from the group because she doesn’t fit the right image (light-skinned, thin girls with pop-star voices to attract white audiences). Her rendition of “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” was heart wrenching and quite frankly, the only thing that made this film worth watching. I wish I could sing with that much passion and soul. I am very glad she won the Oscar for her performance.