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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Actors: | Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles | | Director: | Bill Condon | | Format: | AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English, French | | Subtitle: | English, Spanish | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Studio: | DreamWorks | | Run Time: | 130 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | May 01, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 295 reviews |
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 In the tradition of the great American musicals. Dec 31, 2008
If they were alive today I am quite sure that Rogers and Hammerstein, Loerner and Lowe and all the others who brought us the great American musicals of the 1940's and 1950's would stand up and cheer for "Dreamgirls". For this is a film steeped in the tradition of those fabulous M-G-M musicals of days gone by. Executive Producer Patricia Whitcher pushed all of the right buttons in assembling an incredibly talented ensemble that makes "Dreamgirls" one of the finest musicals of the past quarter century.
As most people know, "Dreamgirls" is loosely based on the story of Berry Gordy's Motown records and the popular 1960's girl group The Supremes. The star-studded cast includes Eddie Murphy in what just might be the finest performance of his career, the multi-talented Jamie Fox, Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson who earned herself an Acadamy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Effie White. Those of you who are not familiar with the meteoric rise of Gordy's Motown empire in the early 1960's will get yourself a pretty good history lesson here. The rest of us can focus on the splendid acting performances by just about everyone involved. What can you say about the musical score for this film? SImply outstanding! Among the tunes I enjoyed the most were "Patience", "I Miss You Old Friend" and Jennifer Hudson's remarkable performance on a pair of tunes "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and most of all "One Night Only". Add to this mix the terrific choreography throughout "Dreamgirls" and what you have is one thoroughly enjoyable motion picture experience. Frankly, I thought that the first 30 minutes or so of "Dreamgirls" was rather ordinary. Perhaps this is a consequence of the film losing something in the translation from the original stage show. But the film rapidly gains momentum after that and ends in a flourish. I must admit that I am disappointed that I missed seeing "Dreamgirls" on the big screen but this is a flick that I am definitely going to want to see again. Kudos to everyone involved! Very highly recommended!
not for me Dec 19, 2008
i got this for my mom and she loves it so its a good chick flick
 A Movie Too Good to be a Musical Dec 15, 2008
I've never seen the Broadway show of DREAMGIRLS but I know it's been around for a long time. Maybe if I'd followed this story's history better I could've navigated the movie a little better...but I was thrown by the insertion of conventional musical numbers into a really good dramatic film.
It's a story about music so there could've been plenty of songs but having the actors burst into song during some heavy dramatic scenes threw me off a little. It didn't have to lapse into that convention.
Everyone was excellent. Eddie Murphy was outstanding. It's a finely-crafted film that left me wondering just how far removed it was from the real-life story of Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Motown music rediscovered Dec 12, 2008
Every time I see this movie I find myself singing the songs and getting caught up with the dancing. The story line is fantastic and I catch something new everytime I watch.
Not a Supreme movie Dec 11, 2008
I understand that this movie was "based" on groups like The Supremes and it was not intended to be a bio, but still I was disappointed at how little The Dreams resembled their inspiration. Yes, the glamour was there, but the music, which was fine, did not evoke The Supremes or even Motown.
Beyonce, as Deena, plays the role of lead singer Diana Ross, but her role, both as a character and as a singer, is surprisingly weak in this film. Jennifer Hudson, as Effie, is supposed to represent Florence Ballard, and it is her character and singing that drive the movie. Effie's brother C.C. is the songwriter for the group, cranking out one hit after another.
I didn't see the stage version of Dreamgirls. In the movie I felt confused about the firing and subsequent alienation of Effie. Deena began sleeping with Effie's fiance, Curtis (Jamie Foxx), the group's manager. Effie was missing rehearsals, arriving late, and "making trouble" due to "medical problems" (we find out later that she was pregnant by Curtis), so the entire group, who called themselves a "family," fires Effie and pretty much tell her to get lost. For the next five years or so, while The Dreams go on to great success, Effie is a single mom on welfare, and not even Effie's brother knows that she has a kid. Then, when Effie suddenly comes back into the music scene, her brother tells her that he has written a sure-fire hit song for her that only she can sing, as if the last five cruel years hadn't happened! And suddenly all the bad things that happened to Effie was the fault of Curtis, not anyone else. What? During the final song, with Effie joining The Dreams once again, there is an odd scene with Curtis standing in the aisle staring, perplexed, at the daughter he didn't know he had. Likewise I felt confused about the character of Curtis. I know that larger-than-life people can be complex and both good and bad, but in this movie it was hard to figure out which was which. Near the end of the movie Curtis steals a song that he has no reason to steal, and then he is blackmailed into giving it back. Very strange!
The nicest surprise of this film, and the character who most evoked Motown, was Eddie Murphy as the irrepressible soul singer Jimmy Early. I felt another brief and funny nostalgic moment during a glimpse of a Jackson Five-like group. Sometimes this film went into operatic mode, with sung dialogue and arguments, which I enjoyed.
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