DREAMGIRLS

Much fuss had been made during production of Dreamgirls that this was going to be Beyoncé's big-screen showcase. Finally, a role of a girl-group diva that seemed to be tailor made for her... a role she was born to play! (Is it a coincidence that Dreamgirls, the musical, debuted on Broadway the year Beyoncé was born? We think not!) Brush aside her cardboard roles in such flicks like Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Pink Panther remake... Dreamgirls was going to be the movie that would make this pop-princess a MOVIE star.

Now that the wait for the movie is over, I'm sure that she, like everyone else, was a bit surprised to see her big-screen moment completely upstaged by a 7th place finisher from American Idol. Ooops.

Dreamgirls opens with a bang, introducing us to The Dreamettes, a struggling 1960s girl-group entering Amateur Night at a packed Detroit theater. Jennifer Hudson's Effie White leads the trio as the group's lead singer, and Hudson's first musical moment, belting out "Move" just about blows your hair back. Pretty and demure Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) and chirpy and wide-eyed Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) back up the boisterous Effie, whose own wig could just about fly off her head with her explosion of sound.

Shifty car salesman Curtis (Jamie Foxx) notices the girls' potential, and under the guise of their new manager, hooks them up as backup singers for James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy) and his band. Early, with his pompadour, shrieks, and shimmying moves, is the James Brown-esque R&B singer that Eddie Murphy has been practicing in front of his mirror his whole life. Murphy is a hoot, and is obviously having the time of his life, providing much-needed comic relief and dynamite concert scenes.

But Curtis wants more for The Dreamettes... he wants his girls front and center, and they may need a makeover to make it big. So out goes voluptous and big-voiced Effie (whom he has been romancing on the side), and in comes a sleek, pretty and bland replacement. Deena gets pushed to the front of the group as their new glamourous face, and boom! The groups becomes the superstars The Dreams, with Deena's popularity skyrocketing into the stratosphere.

But this is also the point of the story that Dreamgirls begins to falter. Deena has a breakdown in front of the abusive Curtis (now her husband), where he finally tells her why he chose her to lead the group: because her voice has "no personality". I suddenly sat straight up in my chair. That was IT! That was the problem with Act II of Dreamgirls. That was why when Beyoncé's character became the focus, that the movie became... dull. I'd even say that as an actress she has no personality—she has all the gloss of a star, but, alas, no shine or sparkle. The truth is, when Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy are off screen (they both are pushed aside during most of the second half), that you start to get a little restless waiting for them to return. There is a reason that those two are getting all the awards buzz: They give the movie the spark and sass, whereas Foxx just glowers and Beyoncé blinks blankly and occasionally sheds a tear to emote.

Not being a Broadway groupie (like many people I know), I may not be the best person to review Dreamgirls as a musical. However, I can give my opinion on Dreamgirls, the movie. As a movie, Dreamgirls mines the same territory as recent films such as Ray and Walk the Line, which of course is not its fault. Everyone loves a rags to riches to rags then back to riches musical story arc. But unlike those two award-winning movies, Dreamgirls suffers from having lead characters that you just don't really care about. When the dramatic weight of a story is carried on the shoulders of a couple of supporting characters, dreamgirl, your movie has a problem.

  DVD NOTES  

If you can't get enough of Dreamgirls (and I know at least one person who can't—you know who you are!), the 2-Disc Showshopper Edition offers all sorts of goodies. Though the feature-length making-of doc "Building the Dream" may prove exhaustive to casual watchers, it still has interesting tidbits. Everyone in the cast shows up for interviews, leaving many large egos at the door. Anika Noni Rose is particularly charming in her commentary, and Beyoncé seems to be a nice as everyone says she is. Even Eddie Murphy, who can sometimes come across as aloof or snarky, puts his most humble and appreciative face forward. But for all the equal time the doc attempts to give the main cast members, it is all Jennifer Hudson all the time. Still with the excited glow of young stardown, she is very appealing and self-effacing, admitting her vast inexperience in things like dancing and, well, acting. It was interesting to note that director Bill Condon purposely waited until the last week of filming to shoot Hudson's star-making song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," giving her a couple months of being Effie White so that she could really nail the song in character. Looks like the risk payed off—one Supporting Actress Oscar later!