Dreamgirls:The Movie

For starters, the cast is a dream: Jamie Foxx turns in a very tight, streamlined performance based on Berry Gordy (known for his unscrupulous business dealings as well as his industry-and-world-changing efforts that resulted in successfully “crossing over” African American music to the mainstream,) exciting work by SAG and Golden Globe winning Eddie Murphy, the powerful beauty and understated talent of Beyonce Knowles, and of course, the overwhelming odds-on favorite for Oscar's Best Supporting Actress, whose voice and performance as Effie White is startlingly unstoppable and refreshing: Jennifer Hudson. Then rounding out the Dreams is the lovely vocalist and actress Anika Noni Rose; there's Danny Glover, as always, utterly believable, gentle, warm, filled with a quiet dignity and conscience… and the wonderful veteran TV actor Keith Robinson, as Effie's composer brother, C.C. even the ubiquitous Loretta Devine and a grown-up Urkel, Jaleel White, in a tiny part...and many others…all maximizing the Broadway material, pushing their individual talents to the hilt, all delivering powerful performances that make the most of the music and story, not to mention the historical background of the time in which this tale (all based on true people and events) took place.

My bottom line on the movie? Sensational. A casting director's dream ensemble and exceptional performances. Beyonce was extraordinary. Having had a “physical” makeunder, without makeup as a teenager in Detroit just starting out, she was no diva, just a young pretty girl, and in terms of acting, she “pulled back” dramatically….not the Beyonce of Destiny's Child and beyond. But she proved she has more than a versatile voice and genuine acting ability; she has true star power. Though it's hardly working against her, she also had un-buzz, compared to the noise surrounding the incredible Jennifer Hudson, whose blockbuster talent was simply a surprise because of her failure to make it happen on “American Idol.” While Hudson is indeed a wonder – a remarkable NO-AMATEUR-HERE REVELATION as a singer and actress-- I think Beyonce deserves a little more applause for a flawless performance as Deena Jones, the character based on Diana Ross, who led the Supremes (here disguised as the Dreams)Gordy moved to crossover superstardom (nearly an impossible feat) before going out on her own.

Yet, while Beyonce's relationship with Curtis Taylor (in his “Gordy”-inspired, controlled performance by the versatile Jamie Foxx) is well-drawn, Eddie Murphy was stunning as James “Thunder” Early (an amalgam of performers, I'm guessing, inspired his character) Hudson and the rest of the cast move the story along, the problem is not the dazzling direction by Bill Condon; it's the story itself, paradoxically, too soft in an ugly time; strangely weak for something based in truth, I suppose, it ultimately falls away, as events in real life do: friendships fade, marriages end and people linger around the edges of grief, sometimes there is no real engine to a life's story, the motor slows. Despite a great klieg light feel throughout, there was something missing, which is why both Murphy and Hudson have won Golden Globes and SAG awards for their performances but the movie itself has not been nominated for “Best Picture.” It's a very good movie, not a perfect one.

And, it's very, very much worth seeing. The trials of Martin Luther King, Jr., the riots in Detroit, the times as they changed, the music as it changed…all were part of the backstory of this film and their inclusion was deftly done and merits note. They added a song for Beyonce to sing, to an already weakish score, except for the impossible-to-forget “And I Am Telling You,” which Jennifer Hudson sings with passion and power…just as the other Jennifer (Holliday) made her indelible mark on Broadway twenty-five years ago when she – and that show-- lit up the Great White Way.

It may be that “West Side Story” was the last time that a musical could translate to film; maybe modern material makes it even more difficult. After all, “Rent” won a Pulitzer on Broadway, but bombed at the movie box office. It didn't work anywhere near as well as “Dreamgirls” does….Beyonce in a thousand costume changes, Murphy and Hudson and everyone, truly, who flickers across the screen against the backdrop of the grimy, behind-the-scenes details about the company that became a genre of music.

Despite its minor story, and perhaps, pacing flaws, so much is right about this movie musical, especially the performances and direction that pulls you in, that the sparkle, glitter and glamour just push you along.

On a cold midwinter's night, it's a dream.