I have enjoyed many movie musicals over the years. I have original Broadway soundtracks to several shows and I hope to eventually see more musicals on the stage. I have liked that movie versions of musicals have been made since that gives me the chance to see musicals I wouldn't be able to see otherwise. I was interested in seeing Dreamgirls when it was released in December 2006 but was only recently able to see the movie.

Three young women, Effie White, Deena Jones, and Lorrell Robinson grew up together in Detroit and had been singing together for years. They entered a competition as the Dreamettes where they were noticed by Curtis Taylor, Jr. a car salesman who wanted to get into the music business. He managed to get the women hired as new backup singers for Jimmy Early even though Effie didn’t want to sing backup at first. Effie’s brother C.C. had written songs for the women and started writing for Jimmy. After a while Curtis managed to push out Marty Madison, the man who had been managing Jimmy. Effie and Curtis started a relationship while Lorrell gave in and started an affair with the married Jimmy.

When Curtis finally decided that the time was right for the women to go out on their own as the Dreams, he decided that Deena would be the lead singer even though Effie was the stronger singer. Curtis said that Deena’s voice would be more appealing to a wider audience, giving them the better chance at crossing over and becoming successful. Effie reluctantly went along with the change. She was increasingly unhappy with the situation as time passed even as they did start to become successful. Curtis got fed up with her attitude and replaced her with Michelle, a move that everyone else, even C.C., agreed with. Effie spent years trying to recover from being kicked out of the group while they went on to huge success as Deena Jones and the Dreams. Deena and Curtis had gotten married and he kept tight control of Deena’s career. Jimmy was frustrated by the fact that Curtis never left him do the type of music he wanted to do. Jimmy also had other problems, mostly his growing drug addiction, to deal with.

Dreamgirls was based on the Broadway musical of the same name that debuted in 1981. The show was very successful, winning several Tony awards including one for Jennifer Holiday as Effie. I had never heard any of the music or seen the show before watching the movie, so I don’t know what was changed for the movie version.

I basically knew nothing about the plot of Dreamgirls before seeing the movie. I did know that the story focused on a female singing group and their efforts to become successful. I had heard that many people felt that the original musical was really about The Supremes and their rise to fame even though all the names were changed. Some things I have read about the musical state as a fact that the show was based on The Supremes. I know very little about The Supremes, but I could see some of the similarities while watching the movie. Most of them were with Deena and how much she was like Diana Ross. Deena even had hairstyles that looked like ones that Ross really had. After seeing the movie, I did do some research on the musical and movie and discovered that Diana Ross was not happy with the subject of musical. It did seem like the character of Jimmy was intended to be a version of James Brown because of the similar music styles, though Curtis made Jimmy perform a different type of music.

Music obviously played a very important part throughout Dreamgirls. Characters frequently started singing in different situations. There was a decent amount of spoken dialogue as well. Sometimes the characters were shown singing during the different scenes and other times the songs were played while different scenes were shown. That did help to move the plot forward. Most of the songs did have lyrics that progressed the plot forward. I thought all of the songs were well done and used effectively. There were a few very powerful songs, usually ones performed by Effie.

Dreamgirls spanned several years though it wasn’t completely clear exactly how much time had passed. There were only a few indications during the movie of how many years had passed, so for much of the movie I had no clue how much time was passing. I have no idea how long Effie remained with the Dreams before Curtis finally decided to replace her. Once that happened, the movie did jump forward several years. I would have liked if something had been done to make it clearer how much time was passing. The characters went through several changes, including romantic relationships. Curtis went from dating Effie to actually marrying Deena. C.C. became involved with Michelle while Lorrell stayed with Jimmy for eight years. There weren’t any actual sex scenes in the movie, but they were implied in a few spots. A few characters did have one or two conversations about sex. Later in the movie, it was made clear that Jimmy had a drug problem as well. Those things contributed to the movie being rated PG-13.

The movie really focused in on Effie, Deena, and Lorrell and showed how their lives changed as they became famous. Lorrell didn’t receive as much attention as Effie or Deena did, so she wasn’t as developed. Most of Lorrell’s scenes had some connection to Jimmy. Anika Noni Rose was really good in the part. Deena did seem to change as the group became more popular. At first, she didn’t want to sing lead, but as time passed, she was fed up with Effie too. Beyonce Knowles did well with the part. Curtis was willing to do anything to become successful in the music business and he didn’t care who he hurt in the process. He was not a nice guy. Jamie Foxx was really good in the part.

Effie was probably the most important character in the movie. She had the best voice but didn’t look as good as Deena, which contributed to her being replaced as the lead singer. She did have a diva attitude at times though it was understandable why she was upset about the things Curtis did. She went through a lot of changes during the movie. Jennifer Hudson gave an amazing performance as Effie and I can see why she won the Oscar for supporting actress. She has an amazing voice that perfectly fit the character. C.C. wasn’t featured as much, so Keith Robinson didn’t have as much to do. C.C. wasn’t the most likable character when he sided with Curtis over his sister.

Jimmy Early did music with a funk sound but wasn’t gaining popularity. When Curtis took over his career, he completely changed the type of music Jimmy performed which did cause Jimmy to become more popular. Jimmy hated that type of music though. He was married but carried on an affair with Lorrell for eight years. Eddie Murphy was great in the part which was very different from his normal parts. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance and many thought he would win but he ended up losing. Danny Glover turned up briefly as Marty, so he didn’t have a lot to do. Michelle was really just a background character and was never developed beyond being the singer who replaced Effie. Sharon Leal was fine in the part. Loretta Devine, who originated the role of Lorrell on Broadway, had a small part later in the movie.

Main Cast

Jamie Foxx - Curtis Taylor, Jr.
Danny Glover - Marty Madison
Jennifer Hudson - Effie White
Beyonce Knowles - Deena Jones
Sharon Leal - Michelle Morris
Eddie Murphy - Jimmy Early
Keith Robinson - C.C. White
Anika Noni Rose - Lorrell Robinson

Bill Condon - Director

Dreamgirls is available on DVD and has been showing on HBO as of December 2007. I watched the movie on HBO. From what I have read, there are a few different DVD versions available now and it looks like a director’s cut version will be released sometime in 2008.

Dreamgirls was a very good, entertaining movie musical. The movie had wonderful music and amazing performances by Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. People that like musicals should check this one out. I believe this was one of the best movies of 2006 and I will be editing my 10 Best of 2006 list to include it.

Movie Musicals
Aladdin ~ Beauty and the Beast ~ Enchanted ~ Hairspray ~ Moulin Rouge ~ Phantom of the Opera (2004) ~ The Producers (2005) ~

Recommended: Yes