We're Your Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls establishes one thing and one thing only, with no debate: American Idol-reject Jennifer Hudson can sang. And her rendition of And I Am Telling You rivals Jennifer Holliday's performance of that signature song in the Broadway version, filling it with the power and soul that this power ballad deserves.
Jennifer Hudson's portrayal of Effie White, the diva deemed too bold and black and heavy-voiced by manager Curtis Taylor to be lead singer, is the heart of this movie, and Hudson imbues White with a sultry sensuality as well as a break-your-heart vulnerability.
But the rest of the movie, driven as it is by strong performances by nearly everyone, just doesn't have that spark.
Unlike the jazzy Chicago, for which director Bill Condon wrote the script, Dreamgirls wilts its way from stage to screen. The freshness that marked the Broadway show seems outdated some 20 years later.
Its strengths, however, are still evident in the film version. The issues surrounding black music are just as relevant now as they were when the play premiered Dec. 20, 1981. Curtis Taylor has big dreams and makes bold and controversial moves to put a black all-girl group on the pop charts (i.e. making Deena (played by Beyonce Knowles) the lead singer instead of Effie White. And going pop also means diluting the gospel-tinged sound that the group initially had.
In the background, you see bits and pieces of the times in which Dreamgirls is set. You see a record of Martin Luther King's iconic I Have A Dream speech being pressed. Riots rage throughout the country after King is assassinated. And the cold-hard reality of what it takes to make it big and all the compromises that entails are ever-present.
After all, this is a movie about dreams and about the choices we make to make those dreams possible. And it is about pain, when those dreams begin to turn into harsh nightmares.
That pain is etched into the performance of Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder" Early, a James Brown-like singer. Thunder's wild and crazy performances enliven the film, and you'll get a kick out of seeing Murphy sing something other than "Party All The Time." But it is in the moments when Early begins to realize that his time in the spotlight is rapidly fading that you see a depth in Murphy that you haven't seen before.
It's not a performance that knocks you over, and much of what you see in this film is not too much different than what Murphy has done in the past. But it is nice to see Murphy tackle a challenging role like this.
By far, the most disappointing performance in the movie comes from Beyonce Knowles. Much has been written about how she lost weight and worked on this character. But the end result is just as vacant and wooden as anything she has done before this film. You never get an idea of what's going on inside Deena. Beyonce tries to act with her eyes, which would be fine if her eyes weren't open so wide all the time.
The only time we get some goosebumps is when she sings "Listen."
As for the film, Condon moves the action along pretty quickly, a major achievement for a movie that runs more than two hours. The musical set pieces are well done, and there are some nice moments. Jamie Foxx gives Curtis Taylor a nice snake-oily charm and shows good chemistry with Hudson's Effie White.
But none of this is enough to elevate Dreamgirls from being a good movie to being a great one.