Movie Review: Dreamgirls
Stars (Out of 10): 6.5
One Word Summary: Songy

       Somewhere between 'Ray” and 'Chicago” is 'Dreamgirls”, the almost true Broadway-Hollywood story of Diana Ross and The Supremes…. excuse me, Deena Jones and The Dreams. Jones, Effie White, and Lorrell Robinson have dreams of greatness, and when their new manager gets them a gig singing backup for superstar James 'Thunder” Early, their music is quickly catapulted from the local R&B scene to the national pop charts. Fame, along with jealousy and ambition, tear the group apart though as Effie is pushed aside in favor of the more attractive Denna, and the group’s sound is changed to attract a more white audience.

       I like musicals (I think I was the only critic that gave 'Rent” a positive review) and I like biopics (I’m not so sure about fictional biopics based more than loosely on real people though), but I’ll say officially I don’t like musical biopics on musicians. Too much singing!

       'Dreamgirls” has enough music with all of The Dreams’ and Early’s live performances; the first time Curtis and C.C. broke into spontaneous song (about, of all things, payola), I literally laughed. Maybe it worked on Broadway (where 'Dreamgirls debuted in 1981), but as a movie, 'Dreamgirls” could have been a good fictional biopic or a good musical, but aside from providing a few neat transitions, it just doesn’t work as both.

       Director Bill Condon’s film shows flashes of brilliance, but at other times just seems flashy, and caught up in its own Oscar hype. At points I could understand why 'Dreamgirls” had been the most anticipated film of the year; the scenery is spectacular, the costumes are period-perfect, and the live performances make the audience feel like they have the best seat in the house. But at other times, when no character was likable enough to identify with, when I’d already seen a song sung, and when I couldn’t tell if 'Dreamgirls” was about a fictional singing trio or real race relations, I was just ready for this movie to end.

The Bottom Line is that this movie musical just doesn’t work. Bill Condon directs a dazzling picture with a great cast—led, surprisingly, by fantastic performances by Eddie 'Dr. Dolittle” Murphy and Beyoncé 'Irreplacable Knowles—but the screenplay lags at times and some of the music just seems out of place.