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| Beyoncé Knowles looking swanky between foolish-looking Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy on the poster for Bill Condon's Dreamgirls |
QUICK REVIEW:
Three female vocalists fight for a breakthrough in the 1960s and get it as backup singers for one of the decade's major singers, Jimmy 'Thunder' Early. But internal disagreements, romances and money trouble their cooperation, as they grow popular.
Dreamgirls is the screen version of the same-titled 1981 Broadway musical, adapted from Tom Eyen's same-titled book for the musical by writer-director Bill Condon (Mr. Holmes (2015)). The film is especially inspired by Detroit's Motown label and The Supremes.
The main problem of Dreamgirls is that it takes place in a version of the world which never approaches appearing real, which inhibits real investment in its characters. To clarify, this is mostly a problem because the film obviously want us to believe that it takes place in the real world of yore.
Beyoncé Knowles (Obsessed (2009)) is excellent; Oscar-nominated Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop (1984)) has a party with his role; Jamie Foxx (Ray (2004)) plays the uniformly unreasonable man that the saint-like women have to overcome. Oscar-winning, debuting Jennifer Hudson (Black Nativity (2013)) is emotional out into the hysterical, which is a realm that Dreamgirls generally inhabits.
Dreamgirls is attractive and at times swinging entertainment yet also sentimental slush.
Related post:
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Watch the trailer for the film here
Box office: 154.8 mil. $
= Big flop
[Dreamgirls premiered December 4 (Ziegfeld Theatre, NY) and runs 130 minutes. An adaptation had been in the works for decades, with talents such as Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill and Joel Schumacher involved at different points. Condon got the job due to the success of Chicago (2002), which he wrote. Hudson, who was chosen out of 783 tryouts, gained 20 pounds for her role, while Knowles lost 20 pounds for hers during production. Shooting lasted from January - April 2006 in LA, Detroit, Miami and New York. The film is the biggest budgeted film to date to star only African-American actors. Some music numbers were cut from the film after test screenings. The film opened to a standing applause in NY, and played a 10-day roadshow in NY, LA and SF, accruing 0.8 mil. $ before its wide release. This hadn't been done so since Man of La Mancha (1972). Dreamgirls opened #3 to a 14.1 mil. $ first weekend behind Night at the Museum (36.7 mil. $) and The Pursuit of Happiness (19.3 mil. $) in North America, where it grossed 103.3 mil. $ (66.7 % of the total gross). Dreamgirls became the most nominated film at the 2007 Oscars with 8 nominations, however, it also became the first film in Oscar history to receive the highest amount of nominations yet not be nominated for Best Picture or Director. Dreamgirls was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Hudson), Supporting Actor (Murphy), Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound Mixing and three nominations for the songs Listen, Love You I Do and Patience. It won 2 statuettes, for Hudson and for its sound mixing. The film also won 3 Golden Globes (out of 5 nominations), AFI's Movie of the Year award and dozens of other awards. Due to its huge budget, the film was unsuccessful theatrically, - but it made an additional 94.9 mil. $+ on domestic DVD and Blu-ray sales, which, if added, makes it a success. Dreamgirls is certified fresh at 78 % with a 7.2 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Dreamgirls?
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