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MOVIES / ON DVD / DREAMGIRLS
Dreamgirls

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Dreamgirls (2006)

78%
64%
76%
N/A
N/A
N/A
78 %
Reviews Counted: 193 Fresh: 150  Rotten:43 Average Rating: 7.2/10
 
Consensus: Dreamgirls has dazzling, astonishing musical pieces. Dreamgirls' simple characters and plot hardly detract from the movie’s real feats: the electrifying performances and the dazzling musical numbers. more
 
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins 1 sec
Theatrical Release: 02-02-2007
Synopsis:
In 1960s Detroit, a good night onstage can get you noticed but it won't get your song played on the radio. Here, a new kind of music is on the cusp of being born – a sound with roots buried deep in the soul of Detroit itself, where songs are about more than what's on the surface, and everyone is bound... [More]
In 1960s Detroit, a good night onstage can get you noticed but it won't get your song played on the radio. Here, a new kind of music is on the cusp of being born – a sound with roots buried deep in the soul of Detroit itself, where songs are about more than what's on the surface, and everyone is bound together by a shared dream. Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) is a car salesman aching to make his mark in the music business – to form his own record label and get its sound heard on mainstream radio at a time when civil rights are still only a whisper in the streets. He just needs the angle, the right talent, the right product to sell. Late for their stint in a local talent show, The Dreamettes – Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), and lead singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) – show up in their cheap wigs and homemade dresses, rehearsing songs and steps by Effie's brother, C.C. (Keith Robinson), with hopes that talent and sheer desire will break them out of the only life that seems available to them. They're young. They're beautiful. They're just what Curtis is looking for. All they have to do is trust him. James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy) is a pioneer of the new Detroit sound, spellbinding audiences all along the "Chitlin' Circuit" with his electrifying blend of soul and rock 'n' roll. Curtis finesses The Dreamettes a gig singing backup for Early, and suddenly, for all of them, the gulf between what they want and what they can have draws closer for the first time. Curtis launches the girls as a solo act, rechristening them The Dreams, knowing in his gut that success lies not with the soulful voice of Effie, but with the demure beauty and malleable style of Deena – despite their history…and Curtis' promises. Deena is ready to step into the spotlight, even as Effie fades away. As a new musical age dawns, Curtis' driving ambition pushes this one-time family to the forefront of an industry in the throes of music revolution. But when the lights come up and the curtains part, they hardly recognize who they've become. Their dreams are finally there for the taking, but at a price that may be too heavy for their hearts to bear. The groundbreaking Tony Award-winning Broadway phenomenon comes to life as an all-new motion picture adaptation written and directed by Academy Award®® winner Bill Condon. A Laurence Mark production presented by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, "Dreamgirls," is a compelling story of love and loyalty, fame and betrayal that tracks the struggle, sacrifices and triumphs of a group of outsiders carrying their landmark sound into mainstream America in the 1960s and '70s. --© DreamWorks [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Eddie Murphy

Director: Bill Condon
Screenwriter: Bill Condon
Producer: Laurence Mark
Composer: Henry Krieger, Stephen Trask

DVD Info

Release:

Jan 5, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French
  • Dolby Digital 2.0 - English, French
  • Subtitles - Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Alternate Scenes - Extended Musical Numbers (12)
  • Music Video - Beyoncé - "Listen"

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

To say that Dreamgirls is the best musical so far this century is to make no great claim for it. To say that it's the best film about the music business since 1996's Grace of My Heart and fit to be spoken of in the same breath says more.

Full Review | Comment
02/10/07 05:14 AM
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

Few pictures can match the glamorous pull of Dreamgirls. Bill Condon's first big musical since Chicago is a glossy, gleaming Cadillac of a film with a vintage rhythm and blues engine tuned to perfection. The cast is dressed to kill.

Full Review | Comment
02/05/07 03:16 AM
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

There is no single person or story to centre the drama around, and Murphy's performance, though widely liked and indeed now Oscar-nominated, is for my money flatly written with very little of the high comedy octane of which we know he is capable.

Full Review | Comment
02/03/07 05:17 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image

Eddie Murphy is worth the price of admission alone. He isn't so much a masculine stage presence as a walking erection with a quiff.

Full Review | Comment
02/02/07 08:53 AM
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image

Entertaining, impressively directed musical drama with a show-stopping, Oscar-nominated performance by Jennifer Hudson.

Full Review | Comment
02/01/07 03:15 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

An old-school crowd-pleaser in the best Hollywood tradition, Dreamgirls is only let down by its piecemeal structure and nominal leading lady.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/07 07:06 AM
Neil Smith
Total Film
Ratings Image

The songs themselves aren't memorable so it helps greatly that they're delivered with gusto. Condon tries to pack too much in, however, and energy flags slightly towards the end. Ultimately it's Hudson's passion that keeps the dream alive.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/07 03:20 AM
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Ardent, accomplished, overwhelmingly emotional, with something to say and a dream cast saying it in song. Bravo.

Full Review | Comment
01/29/07 12:58 AM
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image

Marvellous musical entertainment packed with performances to relish and enjoy. Wonderful stuff.

Full Review | Comment
01/29/07 12:54 AM
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]
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It reserves singing and dancing for the stage until Jamie Foxx just randomly bursts into verse while strolling down the street. Dreamgirls wants to be Effie but ends up as Deena: thin, smooth, unburdened by a personality.

Full Review | Comment
01/25/07 03:16 AM
David Jenkins
Time Out
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Ratings Image

Besides the high-energy music, the story grapples meaningfully with intense human drama, racial issues and the theme of art versus commerce.

Full Review | Comment
12/06/06 01:04 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Dreamgirls opened on Xmas day and it was every much of a brilliant holiday movie. I guess the only complaint I have is it is too slick.

Full Review | Comment
07/22/07 12:48 AM
Moira Sullivan
Movie Magazine International
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Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 06:15 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image

...Hudson offers up a seriously underwhelming performance...

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 06:15 AM
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

Worse than a movie of the weak (pun intended)

Full Review | Comment
05/19/07 04:33 PM
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image

You may not be expecting this from a musical, but Dreamgirls is one of the most fast-paced, frenetically-edited, roller-coaster rides of a movie that you'll see all year.

Full Review | Comment
03/24/07 12:24 PM
Brian Tallerico
UGO
Ratings Image

Dreamgirls is a splashy film with a great cast, strong performances, terrific music and an engrossing, though...familiar, story.

Full Review | Comment
03/12/07 02:41 PM
Emily S. Mendel
culturevulture.net
Ratings Image

There’s no faint-praise here. It's the best film of the year.

Full Review | Comment
03/07/07 07:45 PM
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
03/05/07 03:18 AM
culturevulture.net
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Una lujosa producción que, a nivel dramático, tiene la misma profundidad que una telenovela. Eso sí: hay (alguna) buena música y una inusual actuación de Eddie Murphy.

Full Review | Comment
02/26/07 01:57 PM
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
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