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January 21, 2007
Dreamgirls
I went to see Dreamgirls right after I finished watching Todo sobre mi madre. A strange double bill, but awkwardly coherent - both offer a not quite great film adaptation of the female experience.
I have been wanting to see Dreamgirls for awhile. I was pushed into the theater because I went on errands today con mi madre and she played the soundtrack. I have to admit, I wasn't impressed by the sounds; at first, I thought it was because "One Night Only" was played ad nauseum during the Golden Globes awards, but it turns out I'm not the only one critical of the songs.
Like most stories written by men, the women in this film never move beyond stock characters. At least this time they're joined by their male counterparts in characters lacking depth. When the plot turned to push the heavy-set lead singer out off of her pedestal, I couldn't help remembering SNL parodies of Destiny's Child (you remember how Beyonce & her fam kept kicking out members of the group, don't you?) Here's a list of things that don't make sense about the movie:
1. Why do all the songs sound the same, even though the characters keep proclaiming the start of new sounds?
2. Why the Disney-ending?
3. Beyonce can not act. End of discussion. She also barely stifles her diva-ness until the 70s scenes.
4. Was it me, or did the scenes between Beyonce and Paul Lithgow seem to be lifted straight from Entourage?
5. The characters say that message music doesn't sell. Perhaps not In Your Face Message Music, but please explain to me how the folk genre was so popular during the same time period if people didn't want to hear a message. Also, didn't Marvin Gaye make some money at the same time?
6. How in the world does a Brother drop a Sister as fast as C.C. dismissed Effie from the group?
7. I usually hate Richard Roeper's film reviews, but on this he is right on:
The fiery Effie clutches her midsection and says she's not feeling well about a half-dozen times, concealing her pregnancy with all the subtlety of a character on "General Hospital," yet nobody catches on.
Despite my criticism, I did enjoy the film. Like Roeper I liked it, but didn't think it was great. I was impressed by the art direction and cinematography - I thought the end credits were made for the movie's Academy Award noms in those area (it really looked like a typical Oscar montage). But, I'm looking forward to seeing all of the movies mentioned in Roeper's review - since those are clearly the better movies of 2006. It really is a strange day when I'm agreeing with Roeper.
Roeper's review in the Chicago Sun Times
A.O. Scott's review in the NY Times
Kirk Honeycutt's review in the Hollywood Reporter
Walter Chaw's insightful review at Film Freak Central
Kenneth Turan's review in the LA Times
Rotten Tomatoes listing
IMDB listing
Posted by cj at January 21, 2007 01:08 PM