“Dreamgirls” adapts a successful Broadway musical show in the beginning of the Eighties, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, and based on Tom Eyen’s book and lyrics (both already dead).
The story finds its inspiration in the foundation and progression of Motown Records (Jamie Foxx plays the role of Motown’s director) and, particularly, in the Supremes’ creation and success (The Dreams in the movie).
We don’t obviously see the Broadway show, but, in the movie, everything is a reason to create a song-atmosphere, to hear the excellent and vibrating R&B, Soul and Disco songs and music. With great interpretations, especially from Jennifer Hudson (Effie White), it is worthy to hear (and see, because in Jennifer’s face and body there is something else): “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, where in sublime despair she screams…“I’m not leaving without you!” and the fabulous “One Night Only”.
But that is about the songs. And the movie is a musical. Well, serving the musical is supposed to be director Bill Condon and his adapted screenplay (Condon has worked mostly as a screenwriter, and has already won two Academy awards, one for “Gods and Monsters” (1998) and the second for “Chicago” (2002), another musical).
Just like in “Chicago”, this movie is about a musical backstage (like in the musical’s good old days) and it is recurring (is about what happened back then on stage, as by the looks of it nothing similar to a musical is probable to happen there nowadays).
So, Condon surrounded the songs with little tricks trying to enrich what is no more than a little story (Effie White’s love and ambition, Curtis Taylor’s ambition and greed, the character played by Jamie Foxx, their allies and the ones left back) and with a few common sneak outs (racial issues, and more musical and racial issues, and... the wigs). But is all that enough to support the movie? I think it is curious to notice how much the song-atmosphere contaminates the action, or even when the action becomes a song, and that doesn’t happen just a few times during the entire movie. Actually excluding the action connected to “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, it happens too often and almost in an abecedarian way.
After “Dancer in the Dark” (Lars von Trier, 2000) the spectator has the right to be more demanding: to expect a musical to be also a movie, and maybe even more movie. There are beautiful songs in “Dreamgirls” that sometimes you really want to start dancing. But its world is not only singing and dancing. Maybe it should have stayed only by the songs; maybe they would have created a movie…
Coinciding with the movie and (by the way it looks, only because) Condon’s directing, there is Beyoncé. And there is also Eddie Murphy, not quite like the one we are used to.
You won’t lose much if you only get the soundtrack…
![Dreamgirls [HD DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/65165232.jpg)
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