Director:
Bill Condon
Starring:
Jamie Foxx ………. Curtis Taylor, Jr.
Beyonce Knowles ………. Deena Jones
Eddie Murphy ………. James “Thunder” Early
Danny Glover ………. Marty
Jennifer Hudson ………. Effie White
Anika Noni Rose ………. Lorrell Robinson
Keith Robinson ………. C.C. White
Sharon Leal ………. Michelle Morris
Hinton Battle ………. Wayne
The Movie
Over the past few years the musical/biography motion picture has garnered a lot of attention and praise from movie-goers and critic alike. Films such as Ray and Walk the Line have been very successful in recent years. The next film that had hoped to follow in those film’s footsteps was Dreamgirls, loosely based on the rise and fall of Diana Ross and The Supremes. It certainly has gotten a number of awards including the Golden Globe Award winner for “Best Picture”. It didn’t do as well at the Academy Awards, but the real question is this movie worth all of the hype?
Dreamgirls is set in the 1960’s in Detroit, Michigan. It’s the beginning of the “Motown” sound and Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) is a car salesman that is itching for the chance to make it big in the music business. That’s when he meets “The Dreamettes”, Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles), Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose). Curtis and Effie’s brother, C.C. White (Keith Robinson), manage to get the girls a job singing backup for the highly successful James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy); but once Curtis sees the true talent of The Dreamettes he decides to make them a solo act. That’s when problems begin to arise as they try to decide who should be the lead singer for the group on their way to pop stardom.
The pomp and pageantry in this movie is something that needs elaboration. The costumes and sets used in this movie are fantastic. The film is glamorous and portrays the era in an excellent light. It competes head-to-head with the acting for the best aspect of this film. Director Bill Condon did a good job of bringing this Broadway musical from stage to film.
Much has been said about the acting. Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson received Academy Award nominations for their roles, yet it was the names of Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles that were the biggest on the marquee. As a group, everyone works smoothly together. The pieces to the puzzle fit near perfectly and really help to make this film better than you might think when you see it on paper.
The only real downside to this movie is the music. The music is supposed to be the center of this movie. You would expect that the songs and music in this film to be top-notch and compete for Best Soundtrack in a Movie Musical. That’s not the case, though. There are one or two “big” musical numbers and you know what they are (“Listen” by Beyonce/”And I’m Telling You” by Jennifer Hudson), but other than that the rest of the songs are pretty basic. Believe it or not, Jennifer Hudson actually did a better job in her acting debut than her singing debut in a movie. She’s a good singer no doubt, but she’s actually best when she is not singing. Beyonce is the same old Beyonce, love or hate her. It was impressive to see Eddie Murphy actually attempt to sing, though. (Guess enough time has past since “Party All the Time.” Then again…)
While the plot of the movie may not be unique, the acting brings the main storylines to another level. The only thing that really kept Dreamgirls from being the best picture of 2006 was what it should have been the best at. The music fails in comparison to other movies of its type. Still, this movie is an entertaining two-hour spectacle, which is exactly what a musical should be.
The Video:
The video is in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The video for this standard DVD set is top-notch. The cinematography is excellent. I’m guessing that the HD DVD and Blu-Ray presentations of this movie are even better, but this version is top of the line.
The Audio:
The audio is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, English 2.0 Surround sound, and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English and Spanish as well. No real problems that I noticed. The music and dialogue come out loud and clear. Too bad that the music couldn’t quite keep up with the dialogue being spoken.
The Extras:
This DVD is the Two-Disc, “Showstopper” Edition. There are extras on both the first and second discs. Here is the breakdown…
Disc One:
Extended and Alternate Scenes –
There are 12 “never-before-seen” extended musical numbers. They include “Effie, Sing My Song”, “I’m Looking for Something”, “Goin’ Down”, “Takin’ the Long Way Home”, “Fake Your Way to the Top”, “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”, “Heavy”, “I’m Somebody”, “I am Changing”, “Perfect World”, “One Night Only”, and “One Night Only (Disco Version)”. If you enjoyed the songs in the movie, then you will enjoy the extended versions of those songs. Most of these were in the movie, but there are a few new songs. Nothing to help the overall quality of the music, but they are there if you want to see them.
“Listen” Musical Video –
This is the video for the song that was sung by Beyonce Knowles in the movie and was nominated for an Oscar. It’s pretty good, but is easily forgettable. Still one of the standout songs in this movie, though.
Disc Two:
“Building the Dream” Full-Length Documentary –
This documentary is nearly as long as the movie itself. There are nine chapters including “On Broadway”, “The Dream is Alive”, “I’m Looking’ For Something”, “Feel So Real”, “You Better Move, Move”, “The Sound of Tomorrow”, “Gonna Take a Mean Ride: A Side”, “Gonna Take a Mean Ride: B Side”, and “One Night Only”. This is basically the ultimate “behind-the-scenes” featurette. The cast and crew talk about making the film and everything that you wanted to know about it.
“Dressing the Dreams” Featurette –
This featurette is all about editing of this film. Editor Virginia Katz is spotlighted, as she explains to us what the post-production process was and all of that. Various crew members chime in as well. This is fairly interesting to see if you want to know what it takes to edit a film of this magnitude.
“Dream Logic” Featurette–
This featurette is all about the costume design used in this film. Sharen Davis, the costume designer for this movie, tells us all about the extravagent costumes made for this movie. Since this is one of the bright spots in the movie, it’s interesting to see as well.
“Center Stage” Featurette –
This featurette is all about the theatrical lighting used in this film. The theatrical lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer elaborate on how Bill Condon brought the musical from stage to screen and how hard it was to get the lighting just right.
Auditions and Screen Test –
There are three audition tapes and screen tests given here. You have the screen test of Beyonce Knowles, the Anika Noni Rose audition of “Ain’t No Party”, and the Fatima Robinson choreography audition of “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”. These are all well and good and interesting to see, but what most people really want to see is Jennifer Hudson’s audition. Since this is her debut, and she did a great job in it, many people might be interested to see how she got the role. It’s a shame they couldn’t have included auditions for Eddie Murphy or other performers in Dreamgirls.
Previsualization Sequences –
There are six in all. They include: “The Talent Show”, “Fake Your Way to the Top”, “Cadillac Car”, “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”, “I Want You Baby”, “Heavy”, and “Hard to Say Goodbye”. Basically, we take a look at how each of these scenes were drawn on storyboards and how they rehearsed and compare it to how they turned out in the movie.
Image Gallery –
There are over 1,100 images that come from the storyboards, costume designs, production designs, and art department archive. If you like looking at pictures, then this is for you. As visual as this movie is, I think it’s a worthy addition to the “extras”
Fans of any of the four main stars, or movie musicals in general, will definitely enjoy this and may want to add to their movie collection. However, I think Dreamgirls appeals to anyone who doesn’t particularly like musicals. It’s your decision: rent or buy.
