Review of Dreamgirls (2006) by Tonypolito — 29 Oct 2010
"Dreamgirls," based on a nearly three-decade old Broadway play, melds together a semi-fictitious tale of the trials and tribulations of Berry Gordy, Motown Records, James Brown and Diana Ross and the Supremes - all under pseudonyms, ostensibly to avoid any litigation.
For a musical that revisits and attempts to recreate one of music's most prolific and talent-driven eras of the Twentieth Century, the catalog is incredibly mediocre; it absolutely fails to evoke the memories and nostalgia it attempts.
The film succeeds far more in chronicling the indignities, compromises, cannibalizing and homogenizing that black soul singers and their songs experienced in the 1960s and 1970s in order to be made palatable to a mainstream white audience.
On point, the film's only standout musical number - and it is quite the standout - is Hudson's highly soulful and uncompromised delivery of "I Am Telling You I Am Not Going.".
RECOMMENDATION: For those who wish to better appreciate the unjust sufferings of such protagonists, the film is recommended. For those seeking a nostalgic concert ticket back to Motown, look elsewhere. "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" would be a good place to start.
This review of Dreamgirls (2006) was written by Tonypolito on 29 Oct 2010.
Dreamgirls has generally received positive reviews.
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