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Dreamgirls (1 Disc Edition) [2006]


RRP: £19.99
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The spirit of Motown runs through the long-awaited film adaption of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which centres around a young female singing trio who burst upon the music scene in the '60s, complete with bouffant hairdos, glitzy gowns, and a soul sound new to the white-bread American music charts. Sound familiar? You aren't the first one to draw comparisons to the meteoric rise of the Supremes, and despite any protests to the contrary, this is most definitely a thinly veiled reinterpretation of that success story. The Dreamettes--statuesque Deena (Beyonce Knowles), daffy Lorell (Anika Noni Rose) and brassy Effie (Jennifer Hudson)--are a girl group making the talent-show rounds when they're discovered by car salesman and aspiring music manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx). Sensing greatness (as well as a new marketing opportunity) Curtis signs the Dreamettes as backup singers for R&B star James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). But when Early's mercurial ways and singing style don't mesh with primarily white audiences, Curtis moves the newly-renamed Dreams to center stage--with Deena as lead singer in place of Effie. And that's not the only arena in which Effie is replaced, as Curtis abandons their love affair for a relationship with star-in-the-making Deena.

Besides the Supremes comparison, one can't talk about Dreamgirls now without revisiting its notorious Oscar snub; though it received eight nominations, the most for any film from 2006, it was shut out of the Best Picture and Director races entirely. Was the oversight justified? While Dreamgirls is certainly a handsomely mounted, lovingly executed and often vibrant film adaptation, it inspires more respect than passion, only getting under your skin during the musical numbers, which become more sporadic as the film goes on. Writer-director Bill Condon is definitely focused on recreating the Motown milieu (down to uncanny photographs of Knowles in full Diana Ross mode), he often forgets to flesh out his characters, who even on the Broadway stage were underwritten and relied on powerhouse performances to sell them to audiences. (Stage fans will also note that numerous songs are either truncated or dropped entirely from the film.) Condon has assembled a game cast, as Knowles does a canny riff on the essence of Diana Ross' glamour (as opposed to an all-out impersonation) and Rose makes a peripheral character surprisingly vibrant; only Foxx, who never gets to pour on the charisma, is miscast.

Still, there are two things even the most cranky viewers will warm to in Dreamgirls: the performances of veteran Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson. Murphy is all sly charm and dazzling energy as the devilish Early, who's part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all showman. And Hudson, an American Idol contestant who didn't even make the top three, makes an impressive debut as the larger-than-life Effie, whose voice matches her passions and stubbornness. Though she sometimes may seem too young for the role, Hudson nails the movie's signature song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," with a breathtaking power that must be seen and heard to believe. And for those five minutes, if not more, you will be in Dreamgirls' thrall. --Mark Englehart


Worth a watch
Review date: 2008-12-02 Rating: 6 out of 10

A thoroughly enjoyable musical, though not without faults. Aside from Effie (Jennifer Hudson) and Curtis (Jamie Foxx) the characters were badly under-developed, which made the storyline seem jerky. The direction kept switching between musical styles: sometimes it was played as a traditional musical with characters bursting into song mid-sentence, at other times dialogue was spoken with musical numbers kept on stage or in a recording studio.

I'm not sure if some scenes were cut to make way for all the musical numbers (there are a LOT of songs, even for a musical) but some great acting toward the end of the film was too little too late for those characters. For instance Deena (Beyonce Knowles) is a pretty face who doesn't say much at all until the last 10 minutes of the film, despite being in a role that could be construed as the lead character.

There was also a missed opportunity to make more of the race element of the story: a central tenet is that black soul music was dumbed down/prettified to make it appeal to white consumers. There is even a scene set during the Detroit riots and at another point brief mention is made of Martin Luther King Jr, but the references are lost to a tangle of love stories. The singing is the one thing I cannot fault: top notch from everyone involved.

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Reviews


Film: Not so good BUT Jennifer Hudson: Fantastic !
Review date: 2008-09-03 Rating: 8 out of 10

The film wasn't bad but neither was it very good - a bit like both Beyonce and Diana Ross in fact. I paid less than £4 new and you can't go wrong at that price.

Jennifer Hudson deservedly won an Oscar for her performance and from me she wins an award as "The Future of Soul Music". I would never have believed that Jennifer Holiday's rendition of "And I'm telling you I'm not going" could be trumped. It can and it was ! Ms Hudson has now made the song her own.

Treat yourself to Jennifer Hudson's self titled debut album released at the end of September '08.

The film 3/5 Jennifer 5/5

Not for Motown fans
Review date: 2008-08-12 Rating: 2 out of 10

My comment on the soundtrack CD was that it was more Las Vegas than Detroit. Well, the film is all Broadway and no Detroit. There is a great film, full of drama and tragedy and great music waiting to be made (by Cameron Crowe?), but this is not it. I don't think the DVD will be played again.

Good Film FANTASTIC singing from Jennifer Hudson
Review date: 2008-03-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

First of all, this film is NOT the story of Diana Ross & the Supremes, no one in it sounds like either Ms Ross or the Supremes & there are no obvious Motown sounding songs in the film.

The film's story does take bits of the Supremes & Motown's history & clearly intends viewers to make the connections.

As such, 'Berry Gordy' (Curtis Taylor Jr. in the film, well acted by Jamie Foxx) comes out badly, being depicted as a money chasing white wannabe, dumbing down the `blackness' of his acts in order to sell records to (white) pop music buyers.

What the movie doesn't do is put this in context; making a success as a black person in 1960s America was harder than most modern day viewers could ever imagine. If it meant some compromises along the way in putting black artists on TV & in the charts & out of poverty then surely it was worth it. Today's black stars such as Oprah Whitney & Destiny' Child have testified how they were inspired by Diana Ross etc.

Anyway, back to the film. The acting is uniformly good, Eddie Murphy shows he can really sing, Beyoncé Knowles shows she can act as well as sing & the film is consistently interesting in showing glimces of a long gone time as well as how tough the music business can be.

In truth, if you don't like soul music then you might find the film boring though the amazing vocal performances of Jennifer Hudson should cure you of that pretty quick! (go to the scene where she sings "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" & then see if soul music still bores you!!)

Jennifer Hudson is the star of the film & well deserves the Oscar she got for her performance. Her acting is surprising good but her singing - sounding a lot like Aretha Franklin at her best - is simply out standing, & worth the price of the disk 100 times over!

She shows that Simon Cowell may know what music sells but knows nothing about quality & also effortlessly destroys the notion that singers like Duffy, Amy Winehouse & Joss Stone are `soul' singers.

This is a real `feel good' film that thanks to the quality of the singing, can be watched over & over again!

Even though it wasn't what I expected, I'm glad have seen it
Review date: 2008-01-24 Rating: 6 out of 10

Forget Beyonce, Jamie and Eddie, the person who stole the show was Jennifer Hudson (Effie White) who for me was the best. All in all, the songs were catchy and original and the choreography was really good - but I was slightly dissappointed in this film, the storyline was something that I had seen already, I really didn't want to be watching the life story of Berry Gordy - well that's how it seemed to me.

If you want to see life in Detriot in the 60's, then see this film.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jennifer Hudson
Beyonce Knowles
Danny Glover
Eddie Murphy
Jamie Foxx

Creators:
Beyonce Knowles (Primary Contributor)
Danny Glover (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437913937
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2007-05-28
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 125 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: English (Original Language)

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