Dreamgirls...you're gonna love me!

This morning I watched Dreamgirls (2006), the movie musical based on the long running play about the rise of Motown and the Supremes. Starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls puts on a solid show depicting through thinly veiled character references how Barry Gordy, songwriters, and performers came together under Gordy's vision to become a dominant force in popular culture and business during the 60's and 70's. Creative battles, underhanded business dealings and backstabbing mark the Supremes doppelanger the Dreams rise to the top. Beyonce's Diana Ross like character in particular receives focus in the second half. The movie is ably staged and directed with the appropriate amount of glitter and spark needed.

Dreamgirls benefits from a strong cast to carry the film. Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson is the highlight of the movie, her raw and honest performance steals everyone else's thunder. Her singing performances are showstopping, particularly on that "You're gonna love me" song. That plus the "One Night Only" song provide spine tingling thrills of vocal and emotional power. Eddie Murphy also gains sympathy as the Jackie Wilson / Marvin Gaye character. The rest of the cast provide solid performances, leads Jamie Foxx and Beyonce do the best they can with relatively static characters. I was a little disappointed Beyonce couldn't do a little more with her character, having lived the Dreamgirls experience (Destiny's Child was originally four childhood friends with equal parts until Knowles' father who managed them dropped two, brought in one replacement singer and pushed Beyonce to the forefront).

Dreamgirls had the makings of a great movie, but it's the trappings of the musical itself that undercuts it's power. The story covers so much ground (8-10 characters over the span of about 20 years) that none of the characters outside of Murphy and Hudson have a chance to connect with the audience. On top of that, the musical arrangements have not been changed and reek of mid 70's Broadwayized R&B. This becomes confusing, particularly in the 60's section where the song "Steppin' On The Bad Side" is supposed to be a 60's hit but has all the traits of the '70's. Even when the story hits the Me decade the arrangements date the music in a negative way. Every song sounds like it was arranged by Bill Conti for an Oscar awards ceremony.

So I came away mildly disappointed, but that was more due to my expectations than the actual film. Early on, the movie sets up like it's going to lead to something greater but it never gets there. Fortunately, Hudson is able to cut through the glitz to provide the few moments of real feeling. I hope when Hudson finally cuts her CD (if she hasn't already) she skips the current sound of electronic noise and sticks to the powerful soul she demonstrates in both American Idol and here.