Dreamgirls
Synopsis
A trio of young singers becomes a sensation, while racial politics forces the
best singer out of the group.
What I Thought
Loosely based on The Supremes, it stars Beyonce as the "Diana Ross" of the
group (i.e., not the best singer but the "whitest" looking for the
then-white-American demographic) and American Idol's Jennifer Hudson as the
singer who is forced out of the group.
MUSICAL ALERT: As most people in the theater were not aware, this is a MUSICAL.
The good:
Jennifer Hudson. She's not bad. She's got great pipes (duh) and has great
*potential* for acting (though please, someone send her to school for it!).
Beyonce. I didn't like her in Austin Powers Goldmember (I thought she breezed
through that movie based on looks minimal acting ability) but here she redeems
herself. It is quite creepy how much she channels and looks like Diana Ross.
The bad:
The music isn't that great. Sorry, it just isn't. It has its moments, but
ultimately forgettable.
The transition between "story" and "musical" was awkward. It didn't do as good a
job as Chicago's awesome parallel fantasy world where all the music and singing
happened, and the story was too serious and un-campy to pull off the old movie
musical charm. So when the characters randomly burst out into song, it just
doesn't flow very well.
The scenes were all dark, not shot very well, and the cinematography was dull.
It felt like a boring movie-of-the-week on Monday nights. Again, while passable,
nothing that would make me go "wow" like Chicago or Moulin Rouge (to compare it
to two other musicals in the last few years).
I'm writing this after the Academy Awards of course, so I know Hudson won her
award. And I haven't seen any of the other movies for Supporting Actress to
comment on how she compared to them. I *guess* she deserved it, but I'm a little
hesitant because while I was blown away by her singing, I can't describe her
acting as anything more than just 'solid'. That's just how it is.
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