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Gwen got "Dreamgirls" as her Netflix this week. Another Broadway show made into a movie. The music is fabulous, the costumes and make-up SPOT ON for the period (sixties and seventies). Sets were great, and the photography/transitions were mostly excellent. The acting was very good, as well - Eddie Murphy was surprisingly good in the "serious" bits as well as the funny/crazy bits.
So why does this movie not work? Or rather, not work well? Everyone was committed to the project, they brought in amazing talent, they re-created the time period flawlessly. It should have worked. It should have been amazing. But they failed in a couple of very important ways.
They set up the music as being "onstage" - in a rock/r&b/disco/whatever format. It was performance, it was recording studio, it was on stage with an audience. For the first forty minutes, they were true to this vision. Even the "background music" done to enhance the mood (Steppin' to the Bad Side) turned into a live performance and a recording for one of the characters.
Then they changed, and we see the Musical Theatre roots of the story when Effie starts to sing her anguish and her brother comforts her with "Family." It is jarring for the audience to suddenly have that change in style. The song is fine, but unlike Deena's later piece "Listen" - where it is obvious that likely it was Deena alone on stage singing this in the Broadway show, she sings her loneliness and heartache directly to her husband sitting in the sound booth at the recording studio - whereas the earlier "Family" comes out of nowhere.
And what doesn't work for these two pieces *does* work for "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" where Effie eventually ends up singing by herself to her lost love. The plot is fairly predictable, but very well done. We could have told you at the beginning Curtis was a souless rat - his most telling line? About how music was supposed to make money.
IMO they should have stuck with one style - changed *all* parts of the musical theatre bits instead of just *most* of them. The movie would have been a lot smoother for it.
On the whole, very enjoyable movie. Well worth seeing, just be aware it is not without faults. I'm glad we saw it, but I wouldn't rush out to own it. It does leave some plot bits unanswered. But on the whole I think they tied enough of them up. Three out of five stars.
So why does this movie not work? Or rather, not work well? Everyone was committed to the project, they brought in amazing talent, they re-created the time period flawlessly. It should have worked. It should have been amazing. But they failed in a couple of very important ways.
They set up the music as being "onstage" - in a rock/r&b/disco/whatever format. It was performance, it was recording studio, it was on stage with an audience. For the first forty minutes, they were true to this vision. Even the "background music" done to enhance the mood (Steppin' to the Bad Side) turned into a live performance and a recording for one of the characters.
Then they changed, and we see the Musical Theatre roots of the story when Effie starts to sing her anguish and her brother comforts her with "Family." It is jarring for the audience to suddenly have that change in style. The song is fine, but unlike Deena's later piece "Listen" - where it is obvious that likely it was Deena alone on stage singing this in the Broadway show, she sings her loneliness and heartache directly to her husband sitting in the sound booth at the recording studio - whereas the earlier "Family" comes out of nowhere.
And what doesn't work for these two pieces *does* work for "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" where Effie eventually ends up singing by herself to her lost love. The plot is fairly predictable, but very well done. We could have told you at the beginning Curtis was a souless rat - his most telling line? About how music was supposed to make money.
IMO they should have stuck with one style - changed *all* parts of the musical theatre bits instead of just *most* of them. The movie would have been a lot smoother for it.
On the whole, very enjoyable movie. Well worth seeing, just be aware it is not without faults. I'm glad we saw it, but I wouldn't rush out to own it. It does leave some plot bits unanswered. But on the whole I think they tied enough of them up. Three out of five stars.
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