They say that style is dead, but Dreamgirls is an undeniable slice of old-school Hollywood glamour. Love it, hate it or maintain a façade of measured indifference or somewhat muted praise — as many Academy voters apparently did a couple of months ago — one can’t deny that the movie is a confluence of expert costume work, solid choreography and just-so production design.
A tale of grand dreams, back-biting ambition, the personal toll of professional success and stardom’s slippery slope, director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Kinsey) brings Tom Eyen and Michael Bennett’s Tony award-winning Broadway musical of the same name to the big screen with an unflappable grace. Set in the cutthroat recording industry against the sprawling backdrop of the social upheaval of the 1960s (and in fact loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes), Dreamgirls’ narrative centers around small town friends and singers Deena (Beyoncé Knowles), Effie (former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson) and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose).
Plucked from the obscurity of a local-bill talent show by ambitious car salesman turned pop music Svengali Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio, known as “the Dreamettes,” is offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy), a charismatic rabble-rouser that’s part Little Richard, part James Brown. Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as the rechristened “Dreams,” the girls quickly find their bid for the big time eating away at their personal friendships and other relationships. As manager Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more “conventionally beautiful” (read: thinner) Deena can become the face of the group, the girls, individually and collectively, begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.
Its Academy Award losses (notably, Best Supporting Actor nominee Murphy) and other non-nominations got a lot of ink in January and February, but Dreamgirls was also the winner of two Oscars and three Golden Globes, including a Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy statuette for the latter. The film is painted in vivid strokes, to be sure, and powered by a palpable, engaging energy. The problem is that it pushes its buttons of conflict and harmony, if with aplomb, also a bit forcefully and obviously.
There’s not really a sincere sense of stakes or peril attached to the movie. Effie’s ouster and redemption is laid track, pure movie invention; her return is as certain as the sunrise, even if you know nothing of the movie’s stageplay roots. Murphy, while perfect for the role of Early — whose legendary flair for performance and equally renowned libido is captured most often by a Chesire cat grin — doesn’t really get a full and satisfying arc of devolution. This is indicative of the movie’s broader problems, which is that it doesn’t delineate its personal relationships in an achingly clear or even memorable fashion; you’re left to sort of infer the transference of Curtis’ extracurricular affections from Effie to Deena until quite late in the film. As such, it comes off as more problematic than artfully coy.
” — which I believe <I>every</I> review is contractually obligated to mention — <B>Beyoncé’s third act deliverance of “Listen” was, to me, the stronger and more affecting summation of character</B>. It’s a perhaps a nitpicking problem of degrees here, but <st1:City><st1:place>Hudson</st1:place></st1:City> has a tendency to aim for sheer volume on her songs, and there is no softness to her performance, no accompanying sadness or sense of wounded pride to her demotion from the Dreams.</P><br />
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p>That said, <B>the popularity and success of <I>Dreamgirls</I> lies in the fact that it is in essence a flamboyantly theatrical, macro-sized version of the same slings and arrows of occupational and personal indignity we all at some point suffer</B> — the type of redemptive dream performance artists everywhere must have. Its embrace to the tune of over $100 million speaks to the fact that there’s a bit of a secret entertainer in all of us.</P><br />
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p><I>Dreamgirls</I> arrives on DVD simultaneously in single-disc widescreen and full-screen versions and <B>a two-disc “showstopper edition” release</B>, as well as on the new Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. The film’s sparkling transfer presents no problems with edge enhancement, debris or other artifacts; audio comes via Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 surround English language audio tracks, a French language 5.1 surround sound track, and English and Spanish subtitles to boot.</P><br />
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p>The aforementioned two-disc special edition presents a wealth of thrilling bonus material. Alongside the feature presentation, the first disc concentrates chiefly on the music, as there are <B>12 extended and alternate performance scenes from the movie, clocking in at around 40 minutes</B>. These include a music video for Beyoncé’s “Listen,” mixing film and discrete performance footage, along with a never-before-seen, DVD-exclusive piece from <st1:City><st1:place>Hudson</st1:place></st1:City> of the tune “Effie, Sing My Song.” The energetic “Steppin’ to the Bad Side” gets a nice workout, and of the extra material here is probably the most fleshed out and engaging.</P><br />
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p>The second disc is anchored by <B>a superlative feature-length documentary entitled <I>Building the Dream</I>, as well as other brief (four- to eight-minute) behind-the-scenes featurettes</B> on the costumes, production design, editing and lighting of the film. The feature-length doc is viewable in segmented fashion or a play-all option, a nice concession that acknowledges viewers’ attention might be parceled out over several evenings. It provides copious details on the project’s stage roots and journey to the screen, as well as some edifying if fleeting background information on the real-life doo-wop music of the era. <B>A stuffed-to-the-gills image gallery, containing more than 1,100 scrollable images</B>, is a nice touch, focusing on storyboards and an exhaustive art department archive, as well as on-set shots. Rounding things out are cast auditions and screen tests, seven pre-visualization sequences and a few other cross-promotional highlights, making for an excellent, collectible DVD rendering of one of last year’s glitziest crowd-pleasers. <B>B- (Movie) A (Disc)</B></P></p>
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