(2006, 130 min) A star is born and her name is Jennifer Hudson! This "American Idol" reject blows the roof off the house in a film we want to see again and again. Writer/director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Chicago) has crafted a musical masterpiece that will join the classics and hopefully collect Oscars® in February. With an all-black cast, the film tells the story of a singing group not unlike the Supremes and their success on Berry Gordy's new record label, Motown Records. Packed with songs you'll be singing along with and high drama, Dreamgirls is a ton of fun!
Effie White (Hudson), Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) form a singing trio called the Dreamettes. With Effie's songwriting brother C.C. (Keith Robinson) they travel to the Apollo in Harlem for an amateur night. Although they lose they end up attracting the attention of manager Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) and his star James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy) who hire the women as backup singers. Curtis reshapes the group casting the thin and plain-voiced Deena as the lead and pushing chubby Effie to the rear, regardless of her superior talents. When Effie is dropped from the trio she sings the classic belter "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". It's from moments like these that legends are born. One cannot convey in words just how powerfully Ms. Hudson sings this song – it's a career-defining moment for this amazing young woman. Taylor is successful in grooming the group and their success, without Effie is huge. While the Dreams rise, Early's star falls which Eddie Murphy captures with deep levels of pathos.
Deserved recipient of 8 Oscar® nominations, though shockingly snubbed in the writing, directing and best picture categories.
© TLA Entertainment Group
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