2008 Woodie Awards
Dreamgirls [dazzles, delights] during Oscar season.
By: lara eller
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
With the Academy Awards a week from Sunday, moviegoers are attending the theater in herds, hoping to watch many of the nominated hits prior to the ceremony. While the movie received a surprising nomination snub in the Best Picture category from the Academy, Dreamgirls is nominated for eight others, and it is no surprise why.
Based on the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls is directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey) about a trio of black female soul singers who cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s. The trio is made up of recording artist and actress Beyonce (The Pink Panther) as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, who has starred in smaller pictures before, and Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in her motion picture debut. Hudson is known for her run on season three of American Idol. She was booted out of the top 12, losing to Fantasia Barino. But it worked out in Hudson's favor after winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a supporting role for her performance in Dreamgirls, and she is considered a shoe-in to win the Oscar in that same category.
Dreamgirls also stars Jamie Foxx (Ray, Miami Vice) who begins as a Cadillac salesman, Curtis Taylor, but closes his business to begin Rainbow Records, which then becomes the biggest recording label in the country. Foxx isn't new to musicals, after starring as Ray Charles in the biopic, Ray, and winning a Best Actor Oscar for his role. Reviving his movie career as James "Thunder" Early, Eddie Murphy (Shrek the Third, Norbit) gives a knockout performance that has already won him a Golden Globe and is also considered a shoe-in for an Oscar. Early is a music artist with a lot of soul and unafraid to show it. The "Dreamettes" begin as his back-up singers, but then sprout forth with their own act, going on to be the anchor of Taylor's Rainbow Records.
Despite a bit of the movie's dialogue being done in singsong, which can get annoying depending on what you prefer in musicals, Dreamgirls delivers quite possibly the best soundtrack in years. There are five songs in the Academy Awards nominated for Best Song, and three of them are from Dreamgirls. The stars themselves, some of their voices surprising, provide the vocals. When White secretly becomes pregnant with Taylor's baby, she grows angry when she is replaced as lead by Jones. She is then replaced in the group for good and delivers the best song of the film: "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". White spends the next eight years raising her daughter, Magic, and struggling to be a performer again, while the trio becomes Deena & The Dreams with Jones marrying Taylor, later realizing what a snake he is in the music business by stealing other people's songs and revamping them. She performs the second best song of the movie, "Listen," which emphasizes the scene in the movie of the crossroads where her character is standing.
Effie White steadily makes her comeback in the music industry, with the help of Jones who realizes what track she should be on. Together they get back at Taylor with threats of revealing his secret information, and end their musical career on a high note with a farewell concert of not just the three dreams, but all four, bringing in White as one of the originals.
Dreamgirls not only succeeds with a stellar performing cast in acting and musical talent, but also with delivering the underlying message of the movie, whether through song or spoken word, that by being who you are and following the melodies of your life, your own personal dreams aren't unreachable. If we each have a little patience, we can achieve that which we never thought possible. If only we will continue to dream.
Dreamgirls is now playing and rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content.
Based on the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls is directed by Bill Condon (Kinsey) about a trio of black female soul singers who cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s. The trio is made up of recording artist and actress Beyonce (The Pink Panther) as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, who has starred in smaller pictures before, and Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in her motion picture debut. Hudson is known for her run on season three of American Idol. She was booted out of the top 12, losing to Fantasia Barino. But it worked out in Hudson's favor after winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a supporting role for her performance in Dreamgirls, and she is considered a shoe-in to win the Oscar in that same category.
Dreamgirls also stars Jamie Foxx (Ray, Miami Vice) who begins as a Cadillac salesman, Curtis Taylor, but closes his business to begin Rainbow Records, which then becomes the biggest recording label in the country. Foxx isn't new to musicals, after starring as Ray Charles in the biopic, Ray, and winning a Best Actor Oscar for his role. Reviving his movie career as James "Thunder" Early, Eddie Murphy (Shrek the Third, Norbit) gives a knockout performance that has already won him a Golden Globe and is also considered a shoe-in for an Oscar. Early is a music artist with a lot of soul and unafraid to show it. The "Dreamettes" begin as his back-up singers, but then sprout forth with their own act, going on to be the anchor of Taylor's Rainbow Records.
Despite a bit of the movie's dialogue being done in singsong, which can get annoying depending on what you prefer in musicals, Dreamgirls delivers quite possibly the best soundtrack in years. There are five songs in the Academy Awards nominated for Best Song, and three of them are from Dreamgirls. The stars themselves, some of their voices surprising, provide the vocals. When White secretly becomes pregnant with Taylor's baby, she grows angry when she is replaced as lead by Jones. She is then replaced in the group for good and delivers the best song of the film: "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". White spends the next eight years raising her daughter, Magic, and struggling to be a performer again, while the trio becomes Deena & The Dreams with Jones marrying Taylor, later realizing what a snake he is in the music business by stealing other people's songs and revamping them. She performs the second best song of the movie, "Listen," which emphasizes the scene in the movie of the crossroads where her character is standing.
Effie White steadily makes her comeback in the music industry, with the help of Jones who realizes what track she should be on. Together they get back at Taylor with threats of revealing his secret information, and end their musical career on a high note with a farewell concert of not just the three dreams, but all four, bringing in White as one of the originals.
Dreamgirls not only succeeds with a stellar performing cast in acting and musical talent, but also with delivering the underlying message of the movie, whether through song or spoken word, that by being who you are and following the melodies of your life, your own personal dreams aren't unreachable. If we each have a little patience, we can achieve that which we never thought possible. If only we will continue to dream.
Dreamgirls is now playing and rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content.
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