message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

             
Dreamgirls  Rated PG-13
Directed by Bill Condon.  Starring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles

Photos © DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures
This film has almost everything going for it – stylish direction, creative editing, energetic and engaging performances (with a standout by newcomer Jennifer Hudson) and more than a few show-stopping moments.  What is doesn’t have is much of a script or much of a score.  Dreamgirls was a popular musical from the 1970s that was generally considered to be a fictional recreation of Detroit’s Motown music scene in general and Diana Ross & The Supremes, in particular. Sad to say, the script has more in common with any number of “behind the scenes” movie musicals than it has with the actual story of Motown (2004’s Ray did a much better job evoking the story of Atlantic Records). And I don’t know what to do with the character of James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy) who begins as a kind of James Brown caricature before morphing briefly into early 70s Marvin Gaye and  going out in a blaze of drug-abused defeat.  For a film that is – to its credit – almost wall-to-wall music, I would have hoped for better songs. Most of the tunes sound closer to 70’s disco than to the 60’s R&B they want to emulate.  There are a couple of good tunes (mostly written for the film), but nothing that will replace “Where Did Our Love Go?” or “Baby Love” in my memory’s music box.  Still, it’s well done, as silk purses go.

Pitchfork Rating: Two halos.  . (A generic story of making it in the music business, pumped up with impressive direction and strong performances.)   Two pitchforks. (Some strong language, implied sexual activity and scenes of drug abuse.)

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