Dreamgirls

Featuring a stunning cast, knockout songs, and great direction, Dreamgirls is a wonderful journey of a film that will have you tapping your toes and fighting the tears. Dreamgirls was directed by Bill Condon, known for his work on Kinsey and Gods and Monsters. This is easily Condon’s best film to date. Condon also wrote the screenplay to the 2002 musical film Chicago and wrote the screenplay for Dreamgirls, which adapted the stage musical by Tom Eyen. The songs from the Broadway production and film were written by Eyen and theatre songwriter Henry Krieger. Krieger composed four new songs for the film.

Dreamgirls won quite a few awards. Jennifer Hudson won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, while the film also picked up an Oscar for Sound Mixing. Three songs from the film were nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards, but sadly none of them won. The Best Song that year was from An Inconvenient Truth, which was odd considering how great the songs from Dreamgirls were. Ah well. Dreamgirls picked up three Golden Globe Awards, too. The film won Best Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Supporting Actor – Comedy or Musical for Eddie Murphy, and Best Supporting Actress – Comedy or Musical for Jennifer Hudson. Shockingly, Dreamgirls didn’t win a Golden Globe for Best Song.

Condon’s film was adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, of course. Dreamgirls is a period piece set in the 1960s and 1970s. The film, like the stage musical, is broken up into two acts. The first act takes place from 1962 to 1965 and covers the rise of The Dreamettes, an amateur singing group that finds fame and fortune after meeting Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), an ambitious car dealer with designs on entering the music industry. The Dreamettes, Effie White (Hudson), Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles), and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), take Taylor up on his offer and eventually wind up singing backup to James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy). Effie’s songwriting brother C.C. (Keith Robinson) and Early’s manager Marty (Danny Glover) are along for the ride. The first act chronicles the rise of The Dreamettes and the eventual splitting of the group as the result of various issues.

The second act takes place eight years after the first act and we find Effie as a depressed mother. She is on welfare. The Dreamettes have become Deena and the Dreams and is reduced to a group fronting for Deena’s interests via the increasingly domineering Taylor. With a new member in the group, things are starting to fall apart as the film cascades back and forth between Effie and the new group. Eventually, various members walk out and Taylor is accused of various shady dealings, the least of which halts Effie’s modest comeback attempt. The Dreamettes eventually find redemption and regain their friendship, while the fragments of their lives are still evident around them. The price of fame, the costs of the industry, broken relationships, and deception are all given a look in this tapestry of glitz and glamour from Condon. It’s great stuff.

The magic of Dreamgirls is in the songs and the performances, really. The set design and costumes are all shimmering with ostentatious appeal, but it’s the performances that create such sensation and enthusiasm in this film. I found myself fighting off a swell of emotions several times in the film, most of which were involved in the beautiful and talented performances from Knowles and especially Jennifer Hudson, who truly is remarkable. It’s a good looking film, without a doubt, and likely would have cleaned house on several of the style categories as well had Pan’s Labyrinth not been up for the same awards.

Eddie Murphy deserved an Oscar for his work in Dreamgirls. Here, he puts on a show. Unlike his performances in recent unfunny comedies, Murphy mines the depths and gives us a brand new Eddie. He’s extroverted, passionate, loud, and bursting with newness. Murphy’s James “Thunder” Early is as powerful a character as film has seen in a long time, with such glitz and allure that it becomes hard to contain him on any size of screen. He’s a marvel to look at, listen to, and experience. Eddie Murphy, should he continue choose wisely when it comes to roles in films, could experience a resurgence if he only wants to.

Knowles was good, too, as she plays the “good looking one.” She gets so swept up in fame that she barely realizes what’s happening to her as Taylor takes her over, steals her soul, and breaks her heart. Her song, “Listen,” towards the close of the second act is as good as I’ve ever heard Beyonce sing. It’s passionate, powerful, and emotional from start to finish and she contorts herself into a remarkable performer again. Dreamgirls proves that Beyonce is not just another pretty face, but that she has the acting and singing chops to really make a difference in the performance industry. Like Murphy, she could stand to make some wiser choices.

And then there’s Jennifer Hudson. She’s already received tons of praise, accolades, and awards for her work in this film. It is nothing short of astonishing, I’m happy to report to those that may be on the fence. Hudson is a true marvel, a talent bursting with such raw energy and passion that it’s hard to imagine it. Her solo in the film, the beautiful “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” is as good a solo as you’re ever likely to hear. This song, both tragic and defiant, simply explodes off of the screen. Hudson’s performance of this track is the best performance of the song to date and, believe me, this song has been performed a lot. Hudson’s performance here is every bit as good as Streisand’s stunning runs in Funny Girl, which is one hell of a compliment for the young lady’s first time on screen.

Dreamgirls is the type of film I could go on and on about. There’s enough here to warrant an easy top ten of 2006 finish, even without examining some of the other supporting performances. The acting and singing is so strong that it’s hard to contain it within a simple review. Yet, there it is. Dreamgirls is fantastic.

9.7/10

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