Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls is the musical of 2006. Following in the footsteps of Walk the Line, Ray, and Chicago, Dreamgirls is the latest in the resurgence of the movie musical. It tells the story of a girl group in the ’60s and ’70s ,not unlike The Supremes, and of the forces that unite them and tear them apart as a group and as individuals as they work to make it big as the first successful cross-over black singing group. Relying heavily on a cast of A-list black actors, Dreamgirls delivers a solidly entertaining film.

The film is of course based on the play that hit Broadway in 1981 about the girl group The Dreams who got their start singing backup and became to a cross-over sensation that paved the way for a new generation of black artists. This also was based largely on The Supremes from their struggles to make it big to the sidelining and firing of founding member Florence Ballard to the breakup of the group as Diana went solo. Though it has been said that Diana Ross wanted nothing to do with the show or the film the character Deena Jones played by the lovely Beyonce Knowles which is based on Miss Ross comes out smelling like a rose. She is oblivious to the machinations around her and when she becomes aware of them she makes her amends and apologizes promptly lending the film its feel good ending. Miss Ballard, who died poor at age 32 in 1976, in real life could have only hoped for such an ending.

Perhaps this is Jamie Foxx’s genre as he appears again in a musically filled film. This time though he is on the other side of the music as a somewhat unscrupulous manager and producer Curtis Taylor Jr. Foxx oozes slick manipulation as he twists business deals and romance together and apart at will building up and destroying the self-esteem of those around him. It is he who gets the girls, then known as The Dreamettes, their first major job backing up the minor hit James Early. Taylor is the man who twists Early to fire his manager and think bigger changing his soul sound to a more polished lounge act. It is also Taylor who drops Early when he can’t connect with white audiences and pushed the girls to the forefront as the renamed, The Dreams. Everything that happens seems to come from Taylor’s machinations and thus it is Foxx who deftly steers the film.

The real revelation in Dreamgirls is neither Foxx nor Knowles but in the supporting cast. Eddie Murphy finally gets a serious shot at a serious role as the soul singer James ‘Thunder’ Early and he delivers a solid performance. Perhaps it is because it is such a surprise to see Murphy play such a part that when not on stage it is hard to remember how he fades into the background around his more forceful counterparts. The most forceful of all is newcomer Jennifer Hudson of American Idol fame as the chanteuse Effie White whose strong-willed and often self-centered approach lead to her self destruction and her forced withdrawal from the group. Hudson is electrifying in both the musical numbers and in the quieter actions whether telling a joke or telling off her former friends. The tunes make the most of her swelling voice and provide a measured counterpoint to the slicker Beyonce centered numbers.

The costumers must have had a field day revisiting all of the Diana Ross incarnations in the 60s and 70s as they get to dress a beauty like Beyonce in everything from matching peach frocks to glittering body suits and flounced evening gowns. The film is surprisingly beautiful because so much of the film takes place on stage as the girls develop from local backup group to international superstars accompanied by swelling music, glamorous costumes, explosions, glitter, and backup dancers.

What the film doesn’t have is the surprises and the depth of some of the previous musicals perhaps because it is not based on the life of one or two people. Ray and Walk the Line allowed their characters time away from the stage to battle their inner demons and develop their styles. In Dreamgirls everything is thrown on stage as if a decision were made one minute and brought to fruition the next. This lack of division between performance and life is most evident in how some of the music was handled. In musical biopics when the performers aren’t on stage they talk and act like normal people. In a musical characters are won’t to break out singing on street corners or when in some heavy emotion. In Les Miserable they even seem to sing while dying. Dreamgirls doesn’t seem to know which it wants to be as it labors through half the film neatly separating performance from daily life only to turn to song in the midst of certain emotional non-performance scenes part way through in the process losing the audience.

A few points aside Dreamgirls is a pleasant musical. It is somewhat predictable and maudlin but it makes up for that with a considerably talented cast who throw themselves into their performances with aplomb. Dreamgirls touches quietly on the racial relations that were occurring in the US during the 60s and 70s without really affecting its characters or the story in any meaningful way. The musical numbers are first rate and the staging of the numbers is classy and smooth. Though the film is not the revelation of last year’s Walk the Line it is a comfortable musical that wears well.

Related posts:

1. Ray