- Beyonce isn’t terrible in this movie like everyone would have you believe. I mean, she can sing, so that helps her a lot, and she’s a decent actress (Austin Powers aside). *shrug*
- I have an intense problem with Eddie Murphy as an actual actor as opposed to Eddie Murphy as a cartoon character. This isn’t to say he wasn’t wonderful as the pseudo James Brown character, just that I kept expecting Mushu from Mulan to show up. Also, I love how he morphed into Marvin Gaye during the 1970s portion of the film.
- I love how in case you couldn’t guess that Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) was going to end up being a cold-hearted scheming bastard, his original job at the start of the film is — wait for it — used car salesman. Can you lay it on thicker? I think not. I love that they turned the car dealership into the recording studio, though, that was neat.
- They should really bring back 1960s choreography. Actually, when boy bands were really big in the late 1990s, I remember reading an article somewhere about how they have less to do with actual bands (thus “boy bands” is a bit of a misnomer) than they do with the sort of tradition of groups of dancing men singing in harmony as started by the great Motown groups. I’d probably like boy bands better if they all dressed in identical, shiny, teflon suits with skinny-legged pants.
- Awesome, awesome costuming. I reiterate that all movies, regardless of their time period, should be costumed according to the 1970s.
- Jennifer Hudson was really, really fantastic. She’s just as much a lead as Beyonce in this movie, but it’s a good thing they nominate her for all the Best Supporting Actress awards because there’s no way they’d let her win over Helen Mirren, even though she was incredible. After her big show-stopper before she leaves the group, people in the audience were actually clapping. Even the final credits show you that this is a showcase piece for her because she doesn’t get a regular credit the way everyone else does, she gets an entire “… and introducing JENNIFER HUDSON” after they’ve listed the rest of the cast. The closing credits are done as video montages of each character as the actor’s name appears, so it’s very long and drawn out until they get to her. So suspenseful!
- My only complaint, really, is the pacing. Despite the fact that this movie is just slightly more than two hours long, it feels a hell of lot longer. I think it’s because in most movies, the standard montage they use to show the passage of time — you know, there’s a bunch of clips of people hustling and bustling around doing whatever it is they do in the movie, all while some kick ass song is playing — usually comes late in the second act so that we can fast forward through all the repetitive stuff that would be boring to watch (concert after concert, football practice after football practice, etc.) and get to the third and final act, but in this movie it happens really early on in the film, so everything that comes after feels really long and drawn out.
- STEVE URKEL WAS IN THIS MOVIE. SRSLY. He’s credited as “Talent Booker” and appears in the first five minutes.
Dreamgirls
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. Right.
IMDB Plot Synopsis Based on the Broadway musical, a trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960's.