Review: Dreamgirls

UK release date: 2nd February

Showered with Oscar nominations and winner of the best musical Golden Globe, this backstage drama from Chicago screenwriter Bill Condon fulfils the glamour and glitz expectations in spades.

Jennifer Hudson excels as the lead singer of 1960s backing group the Dreamettes, who is sidelined by their new manager, Jamie Foxx, when he decides to promote Beyoncé Knowles to head up the trio.

Plot sound familiar? It is, of course, the thinly disguised story of the rise to fame and fortune of Motown supergroup Diana Ross and the Supremes, with Beyoncé as “Deena Jones”, the statuesquely striking backing singer who catches Foxx’s eye, and American Idol contestant Hudson, a deserved winner of the Golden Globe for best supporting actress, as the rejected and dejected Effie White (think Florence Ballard).

Although uplifting and moving by turns, the tale — based on the hit Broadway musical — too closely follows its real-life equivalent to make any sense as fiction. And, for fans of the Supremes, the admittedly rousing score is simply a frustration and even slows the action in places. However, keeping pace with Hudson, Eddie Murphy (the other Golden Globe winner) is a revelation as a James Brown-style showman, revealing a dramatic depth and maturity previously only hinted at.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 130mins

Review by Sue Oates

News: Thandie Newton

British fave Thandie keeps hovering on the brink of major success, but never quite getting all the way to the A-list, and her brief turn as Will Smith’s somewhat unpleasant wife in this week’s The Pursuit of Happyness is unlikely to help much. Will her turn as the love interest in the Eddie Murphy comedy Norbit (due out on 23rd February in the UK)? It’s too early to say for certain, but female leads in Murphy films rarely seem to go on much success – almost as if there’s a curse… Fingers crossed for her, eh?

What could prove a bit more fun is another comedy, the feature directorial debut of ex-Friends star David Schwimmer, Run, Frat Boy, Run. OK, so the title doesn’t promise much, but it does star the likes of Shaun of the Dead‘s Simon Pegg and The Simpsons‘ Hank Azaria – always amusing in pretty much whatever they appear in – and the plot of an unfit guy trying to run a marathon to win back the love of his life could just be silly enough to work. You never know..

Still, you have to wonder – why is an actress of Newton’s looks and abilities only appearing in supporting roles? What are Hollywood’s casting directors thinking of?

News: Danny Glover

Still much-loved for his turns in the Lethal Weapons films, playing Barnyard’s Miles the Mule must have been a nice break for Danny glover, who’srarely away from the front of the camera these days. He’s already completed one other movie, while two others are in post-production, three more are currently filming, and yet another two are in pre-production. Quite how many see the light of day, however, we can but wait and see…

Most promising, from advance buzz at least, is likely Dream Girls, due out in the UK at the start of February 2007, where Glover will appear alongside Afro-American Hollywood bigwigs Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and pop princess Beyonce Knowles, set around a ficitional 1960s black female three-piece singing group based heavily on Diana Ross and the Supremes. The stage version has been running since 1981 – and it’s just possible that Dream Girls could immitate Chicago‘s successful transition to the big screen.

Glover has also got a role in the next film from Michel “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” Gondry, the Jack Black-starring Be Kind Rewind, following the travails of two movie store clerks who accidentally wipe their entire stock, and so have to recreate famous flicks for their most loyal customer. It could be genius, it could be nonsense. hard to say this early.

He will also crop up in the Marky Mark Wahlberg-starring actioner Shooter for King Arthur director Antoine Fuqua (due May 2007 in the UK), with Glover playing the lengthily-named Colonel Isaac Fitzsimmons Johnson. That is almost certain to be mindless nonsense, but could nonetheless make a packet from those of us who like our action flicks big and mindless…