Disappointing. And no, I didn't read a bunch of positive reviews before either. My theater was pretty lively, and I know Hudson has been getting raves, and I don't understand any of it. The songs were good, but some fell flat, the family one in particular (just terrible). And I know this is a musical, but the singing of important emotional dialogue, along with the flat storyline and unlikable characters kept me from getting attached to this movie. That would be fine if I could say it held my attention, and it did to an extent, but it didn't grip me enough musically and visually for me to praise it and ignore its many faults.
To breakdown my annoyance with the sung dialogue further, I'll just say that although I KNOW this is a musical, it just made the film too rediculous to me. Actual creative songs during these moments would have been fine, but it was simply SINGING dialogue, so there was no rhyme or rhythm to it, and when casual dialogue is sung, to me, it just comes out funny, and prevents you from taking any character or situation seriously. Eddie Murphy is great, though.

C+ for now. (But Hudson does have a magnificent voice.)

And one other note, I looked down for a minute, and all of a sudden I look up, and the credits are rolling. Oops.

I liked it. It's a good picture. But not a great one. Except for Effie, we never really get to know the Dreamgirls. Condon the director let me down, too; the movie feels generic, TV movie-ish and unfocused. And as much as Hudson rocked the musical sequences, I was less-than-thrilled with her handling of the dialogue. That goes for the movie, too; everytime it sings, the movie is exhilarating. It's a shame we have to watch it talk.

Wow. I don't know if it was the more responsive crowd or if I was simply being a grump the first time around, but Dreamgirls was pretty damn amazing on second viewing. The aforementioned negatives still apply (although I'd be a little less harsh on Condon) but, really, who cares?

But while I've had a great time watching this twice, it always escapes my mind just as easily. This is because it has no real resonance and, I think, really fails to distinguish itself in any major way. Light as a feather, somewhat bland. It's a wonderful, fun, shiny thing, but it just can't reach the next level.

I also think it's a shame that Beyonce isn't getting any credit. She's stunning. "Listen?" Anytime.

It was pretty decent overall and Murphy and Foxx really delivered some great performances while the initial rise of the group flowed beautifully but there were some issues. I for one can't stand Hudson I fail to see how howling at the top off ones voice constitutes great singing. Yes she clearly can hold the notes but that insanely long song in the middle had me wanting to shoot myself, the fact that I found her character very hard to like didn't help either. And even thou I can't fail the direction there was nothing in the story that really grabbed me I just felt very blase about parts of it, Murphy was the only truly human character I had an interest in. All that aside thou it was a decent movie like I said just nothing oscarworthy.

B-

I wouldn't nominate Beyonce for an Oscar for Dreamgirls (for acting, at least), but I have to admit her performance did surprise me. And "Listen" should win the Original Song Oscar, no questions asked.

I enjoyed the movie, it had some very good songs and great performances by Murphy and Hudson, those 2 performances are awards worthy, the film as a whole is not but its better than certain films winning awards *coughBabelcough*.So i was satisfied.

***/****

B

For someone that's not really into musicals (I can take or leave them), this was a very good movie. Not in my top 10 or anything, but very good.

Grade: B+

As it stands, if the five movies that everyone expects to be nominated are nominated for Best Pic, here are my grades:

Little Miss Sunshine: A+
The Departed: A-
Dreamgirls: B+
The Queen: B (it really is Mirren's movie, but like Babel, it shouldn't be near the Best Pic category)
Babel: C

If Sunshine, Departed or Dreamgirls takes Best Pic, I'll be pleased. Moreso for Sunshine, but I won't be disappointed, as long as Babel and The Queen don't win.

Of course... that's barring any unforeseen, incredible nod for Children of Men!

[font=century gothic]I should just state here at the beginning that I hate musicals. I mention why later in this post, but they've never worked well for me. And when someone thinks Newsies is the most enjoyable musical they've seen, they might not be the best source to go with. So with that in mind, here are my thoughts...

Well surprise, surprise, surprise, I liked the film. It was much better than I was expecting. That saying, it's not without it's flaws.

For one, Jennifer Hudson. Don't get me wrong, she is very good for a first timer and she has a fantastic voice and steals the show away from Beyonce, but where is all this Best Supporting Actress stuff coming from? You actually have to "act" to pull that off, right? How many lines does she have in the film? And how many of those lines is she not yelling and overacting somewhat? Was 2006 really this slow?

The second thing is for a few of the musical numbers, there is nothing going on. Sure the singing was nice and all, but if you have a group of actors singing together, shouldn't they be doing something else instead of just standing around (We're Family for instance)? The camera twirled around while they just stood there. Exciting! That saying, the Hudson and Beyonce solos are stirring, and the Eddie Murphy stuff towards the beginning of the film are really well done.

So why did I like it? The story for one is interesting, unlike Chicago. I was actually interested in the story which made for the songs to be more enjoyable. Chicago though for me was completely uninteresting which made all of the songs dull. Then there are the performances. Oscar-Worthy? No. Eddie Murphy is not given enough screen time to earn enough credit (That and he's basically playing.....Eddie Murphy) and Jennifer Hudson isn't really able to stretch her acting abilities. Foxx is the standout and he is very good. Is he going to get nominated however, and does he deserve it? Not really. Beyonce is good, but not memorable. I also enjoyed the cameos by Urkel, John Lithgow and John Krasinski.

I liked Dreamgirls much better than I thought I would. I stil don't like the idea of musicals on a film screen because they rarely work well since you can't really engage with the actors, unlike in a live performance (I still want to slap people across the head when they applaud for a song in a movie theater. Who are you applauding? They can't hear you.). And it's still quite jarring just to have actors break out into a song. But for what it is, it's good and interesting, unlike Chicago. Dreamgirls is good, but not great.

B[/font]

A

Loved it. I wasn't particularly enamoured with Hudson (although she was very, very good - just less good than the Oscar buzz would lead one to believe). Murphy was great - as was, surprisingly - Beyonce. I've already watched it about four times. Really, really great.

Fave songs: "Steppin to the bad side" and both versions of "One Night Only". What can I say, I'm a disco whore.

A

On a day like today, I really needed this film to work and it did. I couldn't care less about musicals but this really worked for me. Jennifer Hudson is fucking amazing. What an electrifying performance. Eddie Murphy was also great. Beyonce's performances is subtle but effortless.

B-, certain standout scenes were bogged down by the rest of the film. Alright, but overall unspectacular.

Compared to the expected Oscar nominees I would rank them as:

1. Little Miss Sunshine A-/B+ (leaning towards B+)
2. Dreamgirls B-
3. The Departed B-
4. Babel C+
5. The Queen C-

I give it a C, I was just bored through most of the film. As someone else mentioned, sing songing the dialog doesn't work well at all. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought And I'm Telling You, dragged on too long. By the end I wanted to shout out" Shut up already!"

There was just no depth to the story, which also seemed schizophrenic. At first I thought we were going to follow Effie and see how she get's back, but then it switches over to the Dreamettes, yet we get almost no background on them and their rise to fame, and then back to Effie again only to fizzle out altogether. Again no depth, a few throw away lines to clue in the audience. I wanted Effie to stage a comeback, to show them up that they had made a mistake about her, but we got nothing really.

Another thing that bothered me was the attitude and the selfishness of the characters. Nobody really got redeemed in this story, not Curtis who basically walks away scott free after once again ruining Effie's chance, not Effie who still has the diva attitude, not the brother who's excuse that he was young simply didn't hold. And not Jones either who never apologized to Effie for getting her kicked out and taking over in the first place. And no she wasn't apologizing at the end about that, she was sorry for what Curtis did to Effie's new single. I guess the lack of contriteness got to me. Nobody grew in this movie, except for James.

James was the only one I really felt for in the end, even though he was married and carrying on an affair and was just as self serving. Perhaps because he wanted to change, but was always a step behind and never got out of his rut. He was the only one I felt sad for when his charater passed away.

And the songs.... BORING! I kept waiting for that show stopper song, that one that gets you going, eg. Do Re Me from Sound of Music, or the Barn Raising event in Seven Brides etc. Never happened, they were forgettable, not one song stayed in my head when over or made me want to get the soundtrack. Singing the dialog didn't help either. Hudson was ok, but at times she just seem to yell her lyrics and when she wasn't singing, her acting was so so. Beyoance was herself, but even she seemed listless in her singing.

In the end I was disappointed, and feel I wasted my money on a movie that was made for DVD. I should have waited until then to view it, I could have at least fast forward it.

OK movie, way overrated I feel.

Wow -- talk about yer old school...

rtms bravo you brave soul

Yes, I was taking a chance at a drubbing LOL, but I was happy to see I wasn't alone in my feelings that not everyone simply likes it hands down.

I loved Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles. Hudson deserves all of the praise she is getting, and Knowles surprised me. She was good in the scenes with her husband, and terrific at performing all of her songs, especially "Listen", which I hope wins the Oscar for Best Song.

I HATED Jamie Foxx. In fact, I thought he was pretty terrible. He simply can't act. He was a very poor villain, instilling very little personality into a role that could have had more, and he was laughably bad trying to emote expression during the scene when Deena is leaving him, and during the final scene when he "realizes" the girl is his daugther.

The first third of the film is rough, but once it gets past that, it eventually really excels. The problem with the first third of the film is that it felt like a giant montage; a giant music video if you will. There was no meat to it, no real scenes, just cuts back and forth from clips with the dialogue silenced out, and music in the background. There was a lot just shuffled along, such as the car dealership, and the poker dealings, etc.

When the film breaks out however, it gets great. And the third act of the film is the best, which is a plus. I'm not against sung dialogue, but I felt that certain scenes would have been better without sung dialogue, but just straight dramatic acting. For example, I felt that the "we are all family" song, which was sung after Effie is first told she won't be lead anymore, was great and very well included. But when Effie just sung herself to all of them when she came back from the hospital and was being replaced, I just kept thinking about how more effective the scene would have been if it had some real dialogue and drama. There was a great set up, and the scene had the potential to grab me and just make me cry, but with all the repetitive sung dialogue, it didn't quite capture me like I think it could have. It's a case where I don't believe the musical balanced the music and the dialogue. Even stage musicals have great dialogue.

I loved everything between the 3 girls. They were terrific together, really felt like true, close friends, and they were just so good together. Once again, I loved Beyonce and Jennifer. Eddie Murphy was pretty darn good too, but I actually thought the best MALE actor in the film was Danny Glover. Murphy was good, but disappointed me with all the awards attention he was getting. And Foxx was just plain wasteful, as I said. If they could have gotten a stronger lead for Curtis, the film could have shot up in quality greatly.

All in all, one of the better films of the year, definitely, and a very uplifting one at that. The film should win both Best Supporting Actress for Hudson and Best Song for "Listen" at the Oscars, if I had anything to say about it. I'm glad I went to see this.

B

Peace,
Mike.

Woah... Fantastic movie. And Jennifer Hudson wow... she is just awesome, her big performance gives me the chills, she definetly stold the movie. The rest of the cast was great too, except for Jamie Foxx. He was kinda dull and i hate his character.

A

This one is a strange case for me. There's plenty of things that should make it a faulty movie. A lot of the internal relationship and character depth between these people is not shown, the movie wants to make you feel the comradeship and joy in the prime years so when it all falls apart the movie is hard hitting, but you never get the feeling that these people felt anything for each other. Deena is one big missed oppurtunity, I'm shocked Beyonce has been pushed as the lead for this film, as all she does in the movie is stand around and act as something to make Foxx richer and greedier, and the star that pushes Murphy and Hudson to the side, she's a tool to push the interesting ones along. As a character I felt she was the least developed by far, and they even had the "I don't have real worth" arc to work with, they just never followed through with it. The 3rd dreamette Aniki Noni Rose had more to work with than her, I'd say. The songs aren't memorable. The screenplay is kind of weak. The movie feels like it should be more powerful, deeper, darker, every time it looks to get in a dramatic groove, it jumps back into song.

But you know what? I friggin dug it. The best compliment I can give to Bill Condon, is that he made this movie without all the things above, the things I would've wanted in this type of film... But it didn't hurt the film whatsoever, because his vision, HIS movie, worked on its own. His direction, the one thing I was worried about coming in, was one of the my favorite parts of the film. He wound it together so tightly and perfectly, he staged it wonderfully, in a way the movie felt somewhat real. I loved how it moved through the era like it did, he proved his auteur worth quite a lot in here, as I never expected the movie to be made the way it was. I just had a blast watching this, and I think the skim these characters approach worked well because of how Condon put it together.

Production was top notch, among the best of last year. Acting was all good, with my personal favorite being Eddie Murphy, followed by JenHud and Keith Robinson. The songs aren't memorable, but they're still excellent as you're watching them. The film involves you quite a bit, and I felt for a lot of the songs.

One of last year's best. A

After a night of thinking it over, those faults in the film are starting to seem more glaring now, the enjoyment and atmosphere of the initial viewering are starting to wear off and now I am judging it more clearly. I think I lower my grade to an A-/B+ now.

Finally watched it.

The film is enjoyable due to it's music (mostly Hudson) and Eddie Murphy's performance, but thats about it. It's a musical that covers up a not so fleshed out and typical story, the timeline jumping is bad and when the movie starts focusing on Deena the movie totally loses it's momentum. Acting all around except for Murphy and Glover is pretty mediocre, Hudson can sing like nobodies business but I cant take anyone serious if they think she gave a great acting performance, some of her lines and execution were off, she did well for someone just getting into acting but it wasnt great. What bothers me alot is Beyonce getting lead role recognition when her dialogue is very little and far inbetween, it's also funny that her character was the lead of the group because she's good looking and typical/bland which speaks alot about Beyonce herself.

Anyways, enjoyable musical with quite a few problems.

Grade - B-

I thought I had reviewed this already. Oh well...Dreamgirls was a lot of fun, although I generally don't like musicals very much. Jennifer Hudson was amazing (And Lead, btw...probably more screentime than Beyonce?) Her "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going) was bar none the best scene from an actress last year. Her scene later on in the club was great as well. She overall wasn't the best actress (or even supporting actress if we want to go there) but she was great and was a deserving winner. Others were great as well..>I would say that Eddie Murphy was not spectacular at all. I'm glad he didn't win. As for the movie itself, it was not Best Picture or Director worthy, though the technicals shined. It did feel uneven at times, especially right after Hudson leaves the group. It was overall an enjoyable experience with a great ending as well.

B+

By god i dislike this film.

The fat girl annoys me so much in this film.
The singing also did as well.
The singing during the shows was great but during the times there was suppose to be talking seemed like if it was a bollywood film.

C+

Finally saw this movie. I loved the story of the film, and the songs when they were performing. The MUSICAL Aspect of the film, as in breaking into song was very mediocre and many times not great. Jamie Foxx, while very good was terrible in the singing moments. Eddie Murphy was awesome, and I'm very shocked he didnt win the oscar now. Now seeing every performance that was nominated, including Arkin. Murphy definitely surprised the most, completely taking over a James Brown counterpart. His songs were awesome. Then comes Jennifer Hudson, who I have to say did not live up to the hype at all. The girl cannot act, she just shakes her arms a lot. And I couldn't enjoy "I'm Not Going Anywhere" at all as it was awkwardly edited and Hudson's lips were too often out of sync with the song.

That being said, I think it would have worked better as a movie with singing in it like Walk the Line or Ray, as when they're not breaking into song numbers that fall flat, its rather great.

A- Eddie Murphy rocked. "Jimmy got! Jimmy Got! Jimmy Got Soul!"

Just to add, I really dislike this film...