Dreamgirls
The movie musical is an old and curious form and one that I must admit I do not know much about. That admission however will not keep me from reviewing the highly anticipated and lauded “Dreamgirls,” directed by Bill Condon who also helmed “Chicago” the Oscar winning star-studded musical that I have not seen. I was attracted to “Dreamgirls” for the actors, the era, the outfits, and the Soul Music, mainly the Broadway play’s centerpiece “And I am telling you.” I heard this song on the preview and as a soul music aficionado to say the least, heard what sounded like real soul. And it was. And it is. American Idol castoff Jennifer Hudson, who portrays Effie White has an amazing voice and she kills all of her songs, especially this one, which manages to be one of the few musical numbers not on stage (though it is on a stage) that doesn’t come off as silly. And therein lies the problem.
“Dreamgirls” loosely follows the rise and demise of Motown, Berry Gordy and the Supremes. Jamie Foxx’s one dimensional hustler Curtis Taylor Jr. sees something in the Dreamettes and he rides them to the top, first pairing them with Chitlin Circuit king and troubled soul singer James “Thunder” Early (portrayed by Eddie Murphy in a performance that brilliantly walks the line between parody and pathos). Curtis doesn’t see the Chitlin Circuit as the top. He wants cross over, and once he realizes the Dreamettes are the way to go, he renames them the Dreamgirls and pushes aside Aretha like Effie White (Hudson) for the prettier and simpler sounding Deena Jones (Beyonce, not given much to work with). He also switches between the two as lovers. And so the much more talented and stubborn Effie is cast off, her history with the group erased, but her brother C.C. White, the songwriter remains, slowly chafing at Curtis’ whitening up of his music (actually one of the film’s best scenes is a reference to the Pat Boone type covers of soul hits in the early days of rock and soul).
We know this will reach a breaking point. Our tragic character is the fun loving but often oblivious Early who leaves his longtime small thinking manager Marty Madison (Danny Glover looking austere and elderly) for the breakthrough potential offered by Curtis. And how long will it be before Deena shows some character both in voice and in life? Well it takes a while and a lot of musical numbers. Often impressive and invigorating when they are playing a show, it’s the offstage numbers that are off-putting as they arrive just when these cardboard cut-out characters are threatening to show real soul.
A note on the music. There is a theme of Curtis de-souling the sound to make it poppier. But often all the music is de-souled. Fun, reminiscient of the sound we know from Detroit in the 60’s, but always a little too slick and, well, show tuney, owing to its broadway roots.
But for the positive side, I can see how critics have been seduced. While ultimately empty and self-congratulating this film can be a lot of fun. Hastily montaged, with a slew of entertaining actors and songs, the film flies thru the eras with stunning set pieces and costumes (especially for Beyonce as Deena Jones). There was a better film in here and it has been reported that off-stage musical numbers were cut back because of test audience reaction, and it shows, in fact, awkwardly the first thirty minutes of the film give no indication that it’s characters will be communicating with each other in verse. While not a fan of letting test audience’s edit films, in this case I think the film could have dealt with its characters more intelligently without all the song and dance.
This is the second all black musical of the year. The first, “Idlewild” was completely unseen, though it was just as good and just as flawed. “Idlewild” attempted feeling for its characters and was more daring in its musical numbers (and it had better music). It suffered from a pastiche feeling and an overly visual director whose attempts at real pathos were a little clunky as well. Still, both films are often fun.
Story: C+ Mirrors the Supremes and Mowtown. Curtis Taylor is too one dimensional, as are most of the characters. The template is classic but the execution isn’t there.
Acting: B- Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson are wonderful. Others aren’t given enough to work with.
Visuals: B Feels like the era but perhaps not dirty enough often enough.
Originality/Innovation: C+ Hmmm, fails to put real feeling into itself, instead content to be a jolly good time rolled up into a happy ending.
Enjoyability Grade: B- Could be an A for some, for me a B -
Overall Grade: B- Not a waste of time, just not quite art.
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