I love this movie so much

Touches You

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Dreamgirls was released in 2006 and stars Beyonce,Anki Noni Rose, Jennifer Hudson,Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx and tells the tale of the supremes who were a 60s girl group that made it big in Hollywood and start off as the opening act for James Thunder Early (Murphy);but when one of them becomes more popular(Knowles) which leads (Hudson's)charcther becoming jealous of her will the 3 girls reunite again ?Overall its been years since I last seen this film. The cinematography was good since the same guy that did the remake for Beauty and the Beast did this too back in 2006. This film is also a full blown musical,some of the songs were memorable like Listen,We Are A Family,Hey Baby etc the real star is Jennifer Hudson who stole the whole film with her powerful voice which helped her earn an Oscar BTW. Eddie Murphy is in it too and he sings but his songs went over my head. But on the flip side his a good singer since he was a singer back in the 80s. Overall I did enjoy this film as it pays homage to the 60s and 70s. The Princess And The Frog's Anki Nomi Rose was good in this too. 7/10

Dreamgirls (2006)Plot In A Paragraph: A trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.Whilst Murphy signed on the dotted line first, I remember Jamie Foxx turned down his role due to Dreamworks refusing to meet his salary and demands. Obviously this was Post his Ray Oscar, and his ego was rumoured to be out of control (See his Miami Vice behaviour) So they started courting Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Terrence Howard. Foxx soon had a change of heart once Beyoncé was cast (after lobbying hard, auditioning and having a screen test) and he signed on at Dreamworks lower salary. Broadway veteran Anika Nona Rose was next onboard and former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson was cast in the main role of Effie (in her first movie) last.Foxx is OK, but I've never been overly impressed by him. In his first movie in front of the camera for three years, Eddie Murphy is clearly energised by having a meaty supporting role in some good material, instead of a bland leading role in a kids movie. Jennifer Hudson won the Oscar for best supporting Actress, but personally I think she should have been up for Best Actress as she is not only equally a lead, she is the heart and soul of the movie. Whilst Danny Glover gives a solid supporting turn, I was surprised Beyoncé was as bland as she was. Admittedly she is not someone who I have much interest in, but I expected more from someone of her stature/status. Not only does Hudson act her off the screen, she sings her off it too!! Dreamgirls grossed $103 million at the domestic box office, to end the year the 19th highest grossing movie of 2006. This was Murphy's best performing (non kids movie) movie in 14 years.Not only did Murphy get the best reviews he had received in years, but after 5 Golden Globe nominations, Murphy finally took home the prize for Best Supporting Actor. He also scored an Oscar nomination. But instead of winning, Norbit happened. I'm in the camp or people who think Norbit cost him the Oscar.The timing couldn't have been worse. If Academy voters were thinking of rewarding Murphy for his performance here, Norbit came along just in time to change their minds. Whether or not it actually cost Murphy an Oscar can never be known. But there's no doubt it didn't help matters, It was universally despised by critics. And it embodied every criticism people had made about Murphy since The Nutty Professor. And as they were casting their votes, they will have seen the trailers and posters for Norbit everywhere.

The Supremes deserve a lot better.Dreamgirls is largely based on the story of The Supremes, the ground-breaking Motown group. However, the movie does them no justice. All the music in the movie was written especially for the movie. So you don't have any recognisable 60s songs. Plus, the songs are quite dull and don't really capture the sound of the 60s or of Motown.Throw in a rather linear script and unimaginative direction and the movie is nothing special. Plus, in a movie filled with musical performances, the director has random music-instead-of-acting scenes, like in a musical. It just seemed like overkill and totally unnecessary.Decent performances though. Eddie Murphy got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Not sure she deserved it though - she was good, but not THAT good. Then again, there wasn't much competition in that category in 2007.

In many ways I wish more time had been written over the story (it is a bit like a trailing story rolling through the lives of these 3/4 female singers). Also, the way the words of the songs they performed reflected so closely the situation in the film made it a bit cheesy and there was a period in the middle where there were just too many songs sung about what was happening, such that I was about to stop watching. In some ways I wish this had been done with similar songs, but not as a musical.The singing doesn't really reflect the period (more like beyoncé style ballads) however, this film has a lot of positive aspects..I absolutely hate Eddy Murphy and actively avoid all films he is in, but on this occasion I felt he was very good and filled the role perfectly. Jennifer Hudson is one of my favourite actresses, and she didn't disappoint, and she sung some stunning songs. Indeed, you really get your money's worth when it comes to the number of songs, and despite not having the most profound lyrics, some are very touching and make up for the weak depth of the story (and this weird superficial reference to the civil rights movement and I think Vietnam, but it never really became part of the film).It is maybe targeted at 18-25 year old women, especially beyoncé fans, who will love this film. As a 42 year old man, despite being bored in parts, and despite the above criticisms, and despite the fact that I will forget the film by tomorrow, at the end I can say I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and it was a real Saturday afternoon pleasure. You don't have to think, the women are beautiful, some nice songs, and it did make me cry at the end.