Dreamgirls (2006)

Director: Bill Condon

Starring: Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson

A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

‘Dreamgirls’ is a blues infused musical drama that was so believable, it felt like I was watching a documentary.

The film follows the careers of singers Deena (Beyonce), Effie (Jennifer Hudson), and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) – collectively ‘The Dreamettes’, and later ‘The Dreams’. When they fail to win a local talent competition, manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) decides to give them a chance to perform by hiring them to do the backing vocals for established singer Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy). Soon their careers take off to unimaginable heights.

But with fame and fortune comes many challenges, and the film explores the fab and the drab of the music industry as it was back in the 60’s. Jennifer Hudson did a fantastic job as Effie. There’s one scene in particular where her vocals blew me away. This scene was vocally and visually stunning!

I must confess to not being a big fan of Jamie Foxx, but I thought he was rather good and well suited in the role of musical mogul Curtis Taylor. Eddie Murphy was energetic and likable as always.

‘Dreamgirls’ boasts wonderful costumes, excellent editing, a good script, well performed musical numbers, and loads of humour and drama. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was sensational, actually. (My only criticism is that I found the film a bit too long).

‘Dreamgirls’ earned $155.4 million on a $75 million budget. It received 159 award nominations, winning 67 including Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson – well deserved!!!), and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Would I watch it again? Maybe.