Dreamgirls Review

by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)
December 20th, 2006

DREAMGIRLS
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): **

What a disappointment! DREAMGIRLS is a scream-a-thon, whose shrill singing slowly wears you out. It's filled with second-rate R&B songs made for the musical upon which the movie is based. Even though the thinly disguised story is really about Diana Ross and the Supremes, most of it's less-than-tuneful and instantly-forgettable songs are just generic Broadway melodies, which have little real Motown sound to them. Repetitive and relentless, the screeching songs are made no less palatable, no matter how many showroom-perfect Caddys are paraded in front of us.

The irony of DREAMGIRLS is that it is written and directed by Bill Condon, the writer of CHICAGO -- but most certainly not the director of CHICAGO. Any single musical number in CHICAGO is far more enjoyable than all of DREAMGIRLS put together.

This isn't to say the film is a complete waste. It does have some nice parts. With big hunk of hair, Eddie Murphy gives an endearing performance as James 'Thunder' Early, who appears to be modeled after James Brown. Murphy's character is the only one in the story who feels genuine. The others rarely rise above that of mere caricature, even if most are modeled on the lives of real people.

Jamie Foxx (RAY) plays Curtis Taylor Jr., a manager and promoter who discovers a new female trio called the "Dreamettes." When they move to the big time, they are renamed the "Dreams," and, when it becomes clear that they could be more profitably marketed as a single singer with two back-ups, they are repackaged into "Deena Jones and the Dreams."

A remarkably bland Beyoncé Knowles plays Deena. An equally uninteresting Anika Noni Rose plays Lorrell Robinson, a generic backup singer. Jennifer Hudson, a contestant who failed to capture the crown on "American Idol," really belts out the lyrics as Effie Melody White, the other backup singer. Her voice is so strong and sure that you really wish they had given her something worth singing.

Among the small treats offered us by DREAMGIRLS is a group modeled on the Jackson Five. Seeing a tiny Michael Jackson look-alike is mildly amusing, just as DREAMGIRLS is sometimes mildly entertaining.

Save your money. Stay at home and watch the DVD of CHICAGO or any of several much better musicals.

DREAMGIRLS runs way too long at 2:11. It is rated PG-13 for "language, some sexuality and drug content" and would be acceptable for teenagers.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Christmas Day, 2006. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

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