Movie Review: Dreamgirls

I saw Matt Lauer interviewed on the Tonight Show a couple of weeks ago. Leno asked if he saw Dreamgirls and said he had and it was great. He followed up by saying he's not really a musical kind of guy but that he liked Chicago and Moulin Rouge and ... then said "I guess I do like musicals". I feel the same way and I really liked Dreamgirls.

The story is loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes and the rise of Motown, neither of which I knew much about. It's an ensemble cast and one character doesn't really dominate the story. Three girls, Deena, Effie, and Lorrell, form a singing group. Effie's brother C.C. writes their music. After a competition they hire Curtis Taylor as their agent and sing backup for James Early on his road tour. Then comes success, love triangles, drugs, greed, etc. And a lot of good singing. The story covers about 10 years through the 60s and 70s so we also get a lot of fun costumes and sets.

Most every scene is set to a song and in the particular the first act seems like an extended video. Four of the songs are original to the film, and three of these were nominated for Oscars for Best Original Song. Personally though I thought the songs that ended the first Act ("It's All Over" and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" were the best, but they were in the stage version and are not nominated.

Beyoncé as Deena Jones and Jamie Foxx as Curtis were both good but they were outshined by the supporting cast. Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder" Early and Jennifer Hudson as Effie were very strong and their supporting actor nominations reflect that. I wasn't that impressed with Murphy at first, but when he reappears in the 2nd act as the drug addicted has-been he's really good. Hudson probably has more screen time than anyone. Her role as the more talented member of the group, pushed aside by the prettier Deena, who also steels Curtis from her, has the widest range, and Hudson delivers. I think Supporting Actress is a category filled with strong performances this year but hers might be a little better than the rest.

This film was a lot of fun and delivered more than I expected. And unlike a lot of other films nominated this year I couldn't really nitpick about anything in it. This isn't a timeless classic or a movie with deep themes, but it is a really good time. After Pan's Labyrinth the day before, it's just what I needed.