RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Dreamgirls (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
78 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:198

Fresh:154

Rotten:44

Average Rating:7.2/10

Consensus: Dreamgirls' simple characters and plot hardly detract from the movie’s real feats: the electrifying performances and the dazzling musical numbers.

Rated: 12A

Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins 1 sec

Genre: Dramas

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... 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 [More]

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

Starring: Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Keith Robinson, Hinton Battle, Anika Noni Rose, John Lithgow, Sharon Leal, Tom Voth, Robert Cicchini

Director: Bill Condon

Director: Bill Condon
Screenwriter: Bill Condon
Producer: Laurence Mark
Composer: Henry Krieger, Stephen Trask
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Bill Condon
    >
    Anika Noni Rose
    >
    Danny Glover
    >
  • Jamie Foxx
    >
    Beyonce Knowles
    >
    Keith Robinson
    >
1 - 4 of 7

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Dreamgirls

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

As triumphant on the screen as it was on the boards, though like the original, it's a triumph of style over substance.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/18/06
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

[Director] Condon paints with such broad, familiar strokes that the film feels generic; in setting out to tell everyone's story, Condon ends up telling no one's.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/17/06
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

A production so good it reinvigorates the movie musical, gives it grit and substance and returns it to glory.

Full Review Source: Maxim | comment Comment
12/17/06
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Maxim

It's not just the best musical of the year (there's really no competition); it's simply one of the best movies.

Full Review Source: MTV | comment Comment
12/16/06
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
MTV

This year's King Kong, a reminder of what lavish studio productions can be. It's Motown meets Broadway in Hollywood, full of energy and moving emotions.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
12/15/06
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

It's possible to be a very good movie and still be overrated.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
12/15/06
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Murphy is a revelation as James, and what American Idol castoff Hudson lacks in technical acting craft she makes up for in raw energy and a voice that could melt the rhinestones off a beauty queen.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/15/06
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

I've been going to the movies a long time. This is the first time I ever saw people sit during the closing credits, just so they could cheer when a performer's name came up.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/15/06
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

Dreamgirls is undermined by its stop-start pacing and sketchily developed characters.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
12/15/06
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

Film director Bill Condon keeps that story on track, while cramming the screen with wonderful visual touches.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
12/15/06
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Who needs catharsis when there's so much eye-popping, foot-stomping enjoyment to absorb? Dreamgirls leaves you giddy with sensory pleasure in a way that a serious Diana Ross biopic never, ever will.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/15/06
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Critics and fans could spend hours arguing over director and cast, but it’s hard to imagine many combinations achieving greater success than what Condon has accomplished.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/15/06
Mark Keizer
Mark Keizer
Boxoffice Magazine

If you can be satisfied skipping along its surface, Dreamgirls fulfills its splashy, superficial promise of glitter, glamour, and sass.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
12/15/06
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

The production is top-flight all the way, with a detail-attentive lavishness rare these days.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
12/15/06
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

...as Effie White, the Dreamgirl left behind, Jennifer Hudson may have lost American Idol only to have won an Oscar.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
12/15/06
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

...as Effie White, the Dreamgirl left behind, Jennifer Hudson may have lost American Idol only to have won an Oscar.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment 2 Comments
12/15/06
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

The big screen version is a deafening muddle, pulled apart by booming vocal power, melodramatic performances, and zips through time faster than Doc Brown's De Lorean.

Full Review Source: OhmyNews.com | comment Comment
12/14/06
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
OhmyNews.com

A cliché-riddled storyline populated by unsympathetic characters and songs that repetitively bleed into one another to the point where we curse Motown for the R&B movement altogether.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 3 Comments
12/14/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

In terms of enjoying it on the basis of pure showmanship, it's perhaps the most effective musical transition to the big screen since this current movie musical mini-revival began.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/14/06
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Compare the musical numbers from Dreamgirls with Annie Ross's smoky, lived-in performances from Short Cuts and the charade of this film becomes especially apparent.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
12/14/06
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
all

Latest News for Dreamgirls

February 07, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Fool's Gold Hopes to Shine in Battle of New Comedies
Hollywood plays the race card this weekend opening a pair of star-driven comedies, one for white moviegoers and the other for black audiences. Matthew McConaughey and Kate... More...

January 10, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Captain Jack and Captain Morgan Set Sail
For the first time in three weeks, studios will pack a Friday with plenty of new releases as four films open or expand nationwide giving the box office chart a major shakeup.... More...

July 19, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: Can Chuck and Larry Beat Up Harry?
Two new star-driven Hollywood comedies face off at the box office this weekend in an attempt to unseat Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix from the top spot. Adam Sandler... More...

July 09, 2007: Will Beyonce Star in Disney's "Aida"?
Here's some good news if you love Elton John's "Aida" musical -- as well as Beyonce Knowles... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Your first look at the swashbuckler.

Vampires

Vampires

We rank cinema's bloodsuckers.

Avatar

Avatar

The full trailer for Cameron's epic.

2012

2012

12 facts about Emmerich's disaster flick.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
30
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
110
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
167
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
61
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
56
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
8
  • Ho, ho, ho! It's RT's Great Big Gift Guide!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
8
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
19
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Dreamgirls at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Dreamgirls at IGN
  • Dreamgirls at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.