Thursday, December 28, 2006
Dreamgirls (2006)
Cast: Jamie Foxx (Curtis Taylor Jr.), Beyonce Knowles (Deena Jones), Eddie Murphy (James 'Thunder' Early), Danny Glover (Marty Madison)
For complete information, see IMDb's Dreamgirls page.
I was excited about the Dreamgirls movie being made, since I'd never seen the musical, but knew many of the songs well. When I heard about the initial casting (Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Anika Noni Rose, ...), I thought they were doing a great job. Then, they mentioned Eddie Murphy (who I normally avoid as much as possible) and I thought they'd ruined the movie. Fortunately, Eddie Murphy plays a character that you're meant to hate, so it works out okay. He's also got a decent singing voice and (for the most part) doesn't do too many of the things I associate with Eddie Murphy on film.
Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, Sharon Leal, Danny Glover, and the rest of the cast are amazing. The costumes and wigs are perfect! I can't compare this to the original show, but from what I've heard of it, they did a great job.
It's nice to see some movie musicals doing really well (the theatre we were in was PACKED). I hope this trend continues, since it's a way for the whole country to enjoy a show even if they can't get to Broadway and shows rarely tour in their city.
If you like musicals, go see this! If not, you might want to wait for it to come out on DVD, but you'll still enjoy the show.
Grade: B+Labels: 2006, Beyonce Knowles, dancing, drama, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, movie, musical