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For all the importance of music within African-American history, musicals used to be a whites-only genre in Hollywood. Then came Queen Latifah's role in Chicago in 2002, followed by the hit Ray in 2005. But whereas Latifah had only a supporting role in Chicago, and Ray was more a drama with great music, this movie is truly a musical in every sense of the word, with all the major roles played by African-Americans. The story is of three women in Detroit who grow up as childhood friends and become international pop stars. Along the way, they meet men, become rich, break up, and finally reunite at the end of the movie. The casting is great, and includes both older (Eddie Murphy and Danny Glover) and younger (Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx) stars. Many of them turn in great musical performances, and my personal favorite is Eddie Murphy, who puts in one dazzling stage show after another. The movie portrays multiple facets of the celebrity life such as betrayal, substance abuse, sexual rivalries, money-grubbing, contractual disputes, and the ever present dumbing down of content to increase sales. The movie makes occasional references to race issues. As a musical, the music pieces ranged from good to great. Their placement in the movie however, was not the best. The movie broke out in music during proper music scenes, like during the scenes of performances. But the movie also had songs during "non-music" scenes. For example, many conversations became singing scenes. Unfortunately, the most heartfult songs; those with the most emotion, fell into the latter category, whereas the the stage performance songs sounded like generic pop hits. This might have been done on purpose, as a reflection of the character Curtis's belief that the music has to be superficial and shallow enough to please all crowds. But it detracted from the movie as half the songs had little heart but too much glitz. This, and the constant replacement of dialogue with music was probably why this movie did not receive the Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. My belief is that it is a better musical than Ray (also starring Jamie Foxx), but had nowhere near the heart or emotional punch to it. This DVD is fairly straightforward; movie plus extra scenes. I just wished the DVD came with an option of playing the movie with all the extra scenes added into it.Read full review
"Dreamgirls" is not what I dreamed it would be, and yet it does have a mostly superb dream cast, particularly Eddie Murphy and an always charismatic Jamie Foxx. I thought being directed by Bill Condon (screenwriter of "Chicago") it would grab me in the same way that "Chicago" did. But in this case you wish that Rob Marshall had directed and that it had been edited more tightly. Because they chose to add new songs, the second half of the film drags and songs seem piled on for no reason but Oscar nominations. I wish the historical footage had been integrated as well as it was in "Bobby" which set a high standard, but it seems thrown in to manipulate. My biggest problem is the acclaimed Jennifer Hudson, formerly of American Idol, who seems to be playing herself. This is not acting, since we saw the petulant diva in exactly the same way on that show, ironically unable to accept that she was'nt the best person to be the star and even then bitching back to the judges. Yes, she can belt out a song, but I was put off by her in this role to such a degree it took away from the film. You just don't feel sorry for her, when the Dreamettes and her agent and lover let her have it for her bossy behavior, being late and endlessly argumentative. You hail the decision to feature Beyonce, for her beauty, style and singing. Who wouldn't make that decision. Overall it's enjoyable and entertaining because there are some great original songs and Eddie Murphy is a hoot.Read full review
Excellent quality DVD. I loved the movie. It arrived on time and was exactly what I ordered. Also the price was very reasonable Thanks
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Very entertaining. That's life as it was. Great actor's. Fantastic music.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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