Dreamgirls or: How to Stop Discussing It and Talk - About Something Else

[danfrank]

The "acting" part of Jennifer Hudson's performance was certainly not great, though I thought she pulled off a pretty natural style. Regardless, her overall PERFORMANCE was pretty extraordinary, IMO, and I will be pleased when she walks off with the Oscar. She performed the hell out of her part, and this is a performance that will be remembered (enthusiastically) for aeons. I would argue that Joel Grey in Cabaret didn't do any extraordinary acting, but it is one of the great screen performances. While Grey's was the performance of a seasoned and polished actor, Hudson's raw performance seemed to come out of nowhere.

[flipp525]

This guy went overboard. I don't think it's quite the disaster he's making it out to be. BUT, I'm glad at least one more person has the nads to point out that Jennifer Hudson is not that great in it. Really, the cult of worship surrounding this facile performance is ridiculous.

I guess it's just a matter of opinion but I was thoroughly impressed with Jennifer Hudson's debut performance. It has power, vulnerability, and a ferocious heart that drives it through the screen and right into the audience. It's the most audacious "I've arrived!" performance in years and will be a deserving Oscar winner. I just don't see how anyone can see that performance and not vote for it come Oscar time.

Facile? What was easily done about it?



Edited By flipp525 on 1167883589

[Akash]

Yes, Hudson can sing. And clearly she can out emote an entire roomful of divas, but I’m sorry, the girl can’t act. I thought she was fine in the beginning of the film doing the whole sassy, zaftgig woman in touch with her inner power. But when she had to go beyond to something more complicated, to show us a woman angry at being treated unfairly because she wasn’t pretty enough, she just came across as psychotic.

This guy went overboard. I don't think it's quite the disaster he's making it out to be. BUT, I'm glad at least one more person has the nads to point out that Jennifer Hudson is not that great in it. Really, the cult of worship surrounding this facile performance is ridiculous.

[Anon]

I finally saw Dreamgirls this week, and I for one can say that yes, it lived up to all the hype. Is it a masterpiece? No. Was it heaps and heaps of fun? Hell, yes!

First off, to all the naysayers (in particular, Michael Jenson, how did you sit through "And I'm Telling You" and conclude that J. Hud. did not " go beyond to something more complicated, to show us a woman angry at being treated unfairly..."?) how can anyone sit through that rendition and not feel their very body vibrating in the movie theater?

(Spoiler alert)

It wasn't just Jennifer's vocals that made this performance stand out. She threw her entire body into it: the hand wringing, the doubling over in pain and the clutching of her stomach (enough clues about the unborn child that will eventually surface in the story) at the last part before belting out her final note ... THAT was acting and THAT'S how you create a cinematic version of a Broadway showstopper!

I agree with mashari (I think it was you) who said that any Academy Award member who votes for anyone else for Supporting Actress should have their membership revoked. I would go further and say that they deserve to be publicly flogged (with their punishment captured on cell phone video footage). Now, don't think I don't appreciate the Supporting Actress performances in Babel, for those actresses made a terribly pretentious movie feel real, and I have yet to see Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal, but still, this ought to be Jennifer's trophy in the bag.

As for other parts, Eddie Murphy also did a fine job with his role (the standout for me was his final meltdown on stage and his confrontation with Curtis behind the scenes). I disagree with those who found Beyonce flat - I thought her facial expressions were spot-on (she did a lot with her nonverbal moments, apart from, of course, looking stunning throughout the movie).

Anika Noni Rose was underused, I think, but I found her scenes to be both funny and touching.

To me, Jamie Foxx was the weakest link. He really seemed to be underperforming. The only time he seemed to come alive was in the "It's All Over" number (the energy and vocals he brought to this scene should have been sustained throughout the movie). I especially dislike what I thought was the one false note in this film: His overreaction to the sight of his daughter by Effie at the end was just so poorly executed, and it felt completely fake. Plus, he made facial expressions that made him look constipated!

On the production side, wow! The lighting and costuming were superb, and the editing for this movie was spot-on. It really worked hand in hand with the film adaptation (that creative use of movie reel as the stand-in for the Broadway intermission moment before Act II was truly clever). For the few criticisms concerning the use of montage, I think the montages worked really well as expository. The symbolic use of stage and mirrors also, what a wonderful homage to both theater and cinema.

I still maintain that the music works as camp, but the film pretty much plays it straight, which I think also works. Since I had been listening to the soundtrack weeks before seeing the film, it was great finally matching the songs to the action, and still nothing (including early reviews and audience reactions) prepared me for the transcendental performance of And I am Telling You...

A great moviegoing experience, and I'm already planning to purchase the DVD. I'm anticipating some great movie nights with friends - we'll have lots of fun doing the different parts in "It's All Over" and doing painful karaoke versions of And I am Telling You...

Having said all this, I can see why the critics awards are not honoring this film - it's just too much fun compared to all the heady options with the likes of United 93, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima et al. But, I think it's safe as far as Oscar nominations are concerned.

Whether it wins anything, only Jennifer Hudson is the sure thing.

[Damien]

Michael Jensen -- whoever you are -- I got a big fat ass. Pucker up.

[Penelope]

Michael Jensen from the gay media site AfterElton doesn't like it (SPOILERS):

Given that most every gay man I know wants to dress up as Jennifer Hudson next Halloween, I fully expect to have my gay membership revoked for saying this, but Dreamgirls is a bad movie. I finally saw it this weekend and I have to say it was a huge disappointment. Why? Where do I start!

Yes, Hudson can sing. And clearly she can out emote an entire roomful of divas, but I’m sorry, the girl can’t act. I thought she was fine in the beginning of the film doing the whole sassy, zaftgig woman in touch with her inner power. But when she had to go beyond to something more complicated, to show us a woman angry at being treated unfairly because she wasn’t pretty enough, she just came across as psychotic. Obviously, we were supposed to identify with Effie, but I don’t identify with people who behave like spoiled brats and blow their way through $500,000 because they’re pissed. And when they get their second chance, they don’t show up late acting like the world owes them because they’re special.

There wasn’t anyone I identified with in the movie. Not Jamie Foxx’s conniving character (he can act), not Beyonce Knowles’ puppet singer, or Eddie Murphy’s sad sack case. They were all pathetic and that’s not much fun in a movie.

Call me a sourpuss, but the story also annoyed the heck out of me as every obstacle encountered was simply overcome with almost no effort. Foxx wants to start his own record company? Bam! There it is. Eddie Murphy blows their big chance in Miami? Bam! The girls blow the roof off the place a week later. Effie needs a comeback single? Bam! The song is so good Foxx steals it. If this had been The Lord of the Rings, Frodo would’ve been handed the ring to destroy and promptly found an express elevator directly to the top of Mt. Doom.

Then of course there was the gag inducing finale. The real Diana Ross (Dreamgirls is based on The Supremes) would’ve beat the crap out of Effie, not invited her up on stage.

Nor did I think the music was anything special. Mostly it sounded like the same song repeated several times, especially when Jennifer Hudson sank her teeth into it. Like I said, she’s got the pipes. But all this Oscar talk she’s getting for this role is just weird.

I know, I know. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash. For this man, Dreamgirls is a whole lot closer to trash than treasure.

[mashari]

I agree wholeheartedly that every character should want something, and I think that in every scene of this film Deena does want something. There is a difference between not wanting something, and an emotional void like Knowles conveys throughout the film. I found her to be one of the stronger parts of such a dynamic ensemble, touching and devistating in her inability to get anything she wants in the film.

I'll give you that she's an emotional zombie, but a more interesting alternative would have been to at least have Curtis as the object of her girlish desires early on, like Effie, and pursuing him in ways which countered Effie's. Interestingly, Florence Ballard once claimed that she and Berry Gordy had a brief romance until Diana seduced him away--not the other way around. This angle alone would have no doubt added a much needed depth to Deena, but it seems as if they were so concerned with sweetening Diana's legacy that they compromised a potentially involving character.

[FilmFan720]

I agree wholeheartedly that every character should want something, and I think that in every scene of this film Deena does want something. There is a difference between not wanting something, and an emotional void like Knowles conveys throughout the film. I found her to be one of the stronger parts of such a dynamic ensemble, touching and devistating in her inability to get anything she wants in the film.

[mashari]

I for one thought that Beyonce was a fantastic addition to this cast, and liked very much what Condon did with the role of Deena. Deena is not suposed to be the powerhouse that Effie is. Effie is the "diva" of the show, the extremely talented girl who is supposed to be the star. Deena is merely a back-up singer, who is thrust into the spotlight by a manipulative manager simply because she is beautiful, but who doesn't want nor possible deserve the center spotlight. At the end of the film, when she finally lets it all go in "Listen," it is an extremely touching moment to finally see her embrace all the expectation that she is finally fulfilling. Until then, she is merely the puppet of the film, allowing herself to be molded by her husband into his "dreamgirl." Knowles does a fantastic job of conveying that emotional void, especially in the second half of the film, when the film truly becomes her journey, and it is her rise to the top that the audience realizes it has been unwittingly seeing all this time.

Mediocre performance aside, it's like they borrowed all the frivolous elements of Diana(hair, mannerisms on stage) instead of the true substance that made her a star. Nonetheless, even if they wanted to keep the Diva-like Diana similarities at a minimum they could have made Deena more livlier, complex than what she was and allow her to want something.

Every character, even passive ones, should want something(fame, love, control, etc.) and it seems as if Deena just exists for much of the film watching everyone else pursue their desires...boring. Again, by the time she does have a legitamate want...independence, you've invested so much time into the other characters that you just don't care as much--especially for someone with so much screen time. While it may have been what they intended, this is always a risky move for a major character in film.

And this is why critics have suggested that Hudson go lead at the Oscars instead of Knowles. It has nothing to do with the performances, it's just that Effie is a fully drawn out, central character with real wants and high stakes attached and that's what propels the character drive of the film.

[FilmFan720]

I for one thought that Beyonce was a fantastic addition to this cast, and liked very much what Condon did with the role of Deena. Deena is not suposed to be the powerhouse that Effie is. Effie is the "diva" of the show, the extremely talented girl who is supposed to be the star. Deena is merely a back-up singer, who is thrust into the spotlight by a manipulative manager simply because she is beautiful, but who doesn't want nor possible deserve the center spotlight. At the end of the film, when she finally lets it all go in "Listen," it is an extremely touching moment to finally see her embrace all the expectation that she is finally fulfilling. Until then, she is merely the puppet of the film, allowing herself to be molded by her husband into his "dreamgirl." Knowles does a fantastic job of conveying that emotional void, especially in the second half of the film, when the film truly becomes her journey, and it is her rise to the top that the audience realizes it has been unwittingly seeing all this time.

[ITALIANO]

It's just good taste.

Not good taste. Upper middlebrow taste, of which, Marco, I'm afraid you are emblematic.

Upper middlebrow taste, my dear Damien, can be found in heavy doses in Bill Condon's movies.

[Damien]

It's just good taste.

Not good taste. Upper middlebrow taste, of which, Marco, I'm afraid you are emblematic.

[Damien]

Again, Damien so sorry to add another negative comment.

No problem, Akash, lol. And I swear, I'm not Bill's James Baker or consigliore or anything, LOL and I have never had any prroblem with INTELLIGENT people criticizing his work WHO HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN IT. (It's only a movie, after all, and I'd rather have people criticize it than praise Bush's Iraq policy, though I guess at this point that would be like praising a Darren Aronofsky picture.)

I understand the criticisms of the film, especially -- as someone who was not enamored of the original show -- the music (and as I have mentioned more than once I wish the orchestrations were truer to the 60s early 70s).

I myself Anika Noni Rose to Hudson. Murphy is wonderful though.

What most sets Dreamgirls apart for me -- though if you can't see it as superbly cinematic in a way that Rent, The Producers, Moulin Rouge and Phantom were, I think you're a fool -- is just how moving it is. Only Minnelli's films (particularly Meet Me In St. Louis, The Pirate and Brigadoon) and Donen's Funny Face have the same level of emotional depth among musicals as Dreamgirls. My unbiased opinion only, of course.

[mashari]

I enjoyed the film, but I surprisingly saw Deena/Beyonce as the film's weakest link. It was a given that Foxx was going to be upstaged as his role was in the play, but it was a huge mistake to downplay the character of Deena, the lead DG, in the film adaptation. This could have been the chance to make Deena, more complex and juicier, matching the fiery Effie blow for blow. Instead, a true Diva war is reduced to one brief screamfest scene, preceding Jen's breakout "And I Am Telling You."

Love Diana Ross or hate her, no one can deny that she was anything but dull. She didn't require anyone to push her into the spotlight like Deena, rather she was ready to push herself. Sure, she was Berry Gordy's muse, but she instinctively opposed anyone who stood in her way towards success-a true Diva in every sense of the word. Several reviewers have noted this and I believe it was this error and an uneven performance that will cost Beyonce an acting nomination. Golden Globe nod nonwithstanding, I'm sure the acting branch of the Academy won't feel compelled to include her just as they won't Jamie.

Beyonce has a few good scenes, but by the time they arrive she's fell off the radar and leaves one wishing for Hudson's return. It also didn't help that her line delivery, particularly in the first half, was often amateurish. If anything Beyonce's beauty and voice(notably in Listen) was expertly utilized by director Bill Condon, it's just that what's left afterwards pretty much fell flat. Even Anika's characterization inspired more attention and sympathy, partly due to playing a character that has a real want and pursues it with high stakes attached. Nevertheless, Bill did an amazing job with helming this rollercoaster story and cast overall and I'd say it has the SAG ensemble in the bag.

[Akash]

Oh yeah and kudos to Sabin for his insightful comment pointing out a missing key scene in Dreamgirls that may have made us root for the girls more. No review of the film has pointed that out yet, and you are oh so so right Sabin!