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 The freshness that marked the Broadway show seems outdated some 20 years later.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.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Gardner's life was all about pursuit of happiness, that little phrase found in the Declaration of Independence. There was never any guarantee that he was going to get happiness, but he sure went after it with all he had.
Gardner's pursuit is at the center of the new movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, with Will Smith starring as the real-life Gardner. Jaden Smith, Will's son, plays Gardner's son in the movie.
This is a Horatio Algiers-type story, a tale of the great lengths a man will go to achieve greatness.
And though we know what the end result will be, the story is in the journey. And what a journey it is.
As played by Smith, Gardner is a bright man who makes boneheaded decisions, like the one where he puts his family's savings into selling a bone-density scanner that doctors actually don't need. The IRS is after him, he's two months behind on rent and his car is towed away for unpaid parking tickets. Plus, his wife, played by Thandie Newton, is about to leave him.
Could things get any worse? Yes, they do. But the silver lining is an intership at Dean Witter, where Gardner hopes to become a stockbroker.
Obstacle after obstacle falls in his path. Gardner loses his wife and his home and he's working as an unpaid intern, so no money is coming in. The burden of raising his son amid all of his failures as a man is seen through Smith's nearly crumbling face.
This is by far one of Smith's most serious roles. His charm and good looks do him no good here. Smith gives a powerful performance as a man who struggles to make a better life for himself and his son.
Smith disappears into his role, though glimpses of what has made Smith such a likable star over the years can be gleaned. Jaden Smith is a natural on the screen, effortless in his performance.
The ending.... well, we all know that Gardner's pursuit is not in vain, but that beautiful moment of tear-filled joy feels well-earned.

Bloody Diamonds

Some might say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but after watching the brutally violent Blood Diamond, the new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Haunsou, you might start thinking otherwise.
DiCaprio is DannyArcher, a diamond smuggler from Zimbabwe. Haunsou is Solomon Vandy, a man who is forced to work in the mines after his family is taken by rebels. One day, Vandy finds a large pink diamond, which becomes his only bargaining chip once he finds out his son has been taken to become a soldier in the rebel army.
Director Ed Zwick, who has made a reputation for making politically-conscious movies, tackles the issue of conflict diamonds.
Conflict diamonds are diamonds that are mined in areas controlled by rebel groups trying to overthrow a government. Those diamonds illegally find their way into the marketplace, and the money from the trade goes toward buying arms and other things that help keep a civil war going.
Archer cares about getting paid and he doesn't much care, at least not initially, that the diamonds he smuggles are funding wars. Maddie Brown, played by Jennifer Connelly, does care and pricks at Archer's conscience and charms him in helping her to expose the whole mess.
Vandy, however, is at the center of it all, with his pink diamond and his all-consuming search for his family.
As with all things, the personal is the political, and it is through the prisms of these three people that Zwick peels back the carnage and exploitation created by conflict diamonds.
The movie's title is a literal one. Blood is spilled from the first frame to nearly the last. The most disturbing part of the movie is seeing children brainwashed by rebels into becoming cold-blooded killers. Their innocence is sucked out of them bit by bit and replaced with a horrifying numbness to murder.
DiCaprio gives one hell of a performance, proving once and for all that he is no longer that fresh-faced kid in Titanic. He is a grown-ass man, rough and reckless and ultimately decent.
Hansou is both strong and vulnerable, risking his life and that of others as he goes to the heights of sheer nuttiness to save his son. And Connelly's Brown is passionate and headstrong with just enough tenderness to make you still care.
Zwick keeps a quick pace throughout, which is remarkable for a movie that is over two hours long. He would have, however, done well to shave off maybe a half-hour instead of having such a corny ending.
But that's a minor complaint to a movie that delivers a truly powerful story about the price we pay for the sparkles on our fingers and around our necks.