It took a quarter-century, but the 1981 Broadway hit musical has made a successful transition to the screen.
The fast-moving, generally entertaining screen version of <i>Dreamgirls</i> (Paramount) charts the rise of a Motown-like 1960s girl group consisting of Deena (Beyonce Knowles), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and powerhouse lead singer Effie (Jennifer Hudson).
Ruthless manager Curtis (Jamie Foxx) takes them under his wing at a Detroit talent competition where they stop the show, and persuades them to do high-profile backup to R&B singer Jimmy "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy).
Before long, the Dreamettes trio breaks out on their own, and despite a romantic involvement with Effie, Curtis pushes Effie out of the group when her mercurial temperament becomes problematic, and he determines she doesn't match the group's new svelte image.
Thereafter, the film chronicles the separate fortunes of the Dreams, as they're now known, with Deena now the glamorous lead, singer Michelle (Sharon Leal) filling the empty slot, while Effie — after a troubled reclusive period — achieves success as a solo act, and Jimmy (who, though married, is having a long-term affair with Lorrell) works to break out of the crooner style Curtis has imposed.
Writer/director Bill Condon — who wrote the screenplay for <i>Chicago</i> — has, as with that property, skillfully refashioned the show for the screen, turning most of the sung recitatives into spoken dialogue. And taking a page from the way <i>Chicago</i> was done, he has used a lot of quick cuts here to make sure attention never lags.
The parallels to the real-life Supremes (whom the Dreams are meant to resemble) are emphasized with clips of TV host Ed Sullivan, who often featured that group, and album-cover art that hearkens back to Diana Ross's heyday.
The cast is uniformly excellent, but there are especially good performances from Murphy and newcomer Hudson, who delivers the show's best-known number, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," a blazing outcry of defiance when she's given the heave-ho. Danny Glover as Marty, Jimmy's first manager, and Keith Robinson as C.C., Effie's brother and a songwriter also under Curtis' thumb, are fine, too.
The show's tunes by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist Tom Eyen have been augmented by four new ones by Krieger.
Despite some of the flagged material below, the overarching themes of loyalty, doing the "right thing," dedication to family and friends, and overcoming adversity are key.
The film contains romantic complications including adultery, a child born out of wedlock, crude language, some innuendo, mild profanity, drug use and some onstage vulgarity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
