- So, is Dreamgirls any good?
- No, it's pretty bad.
- But it got a 78% on the Tomatometer!
- I think those people are idiots.
- But James
Berardinelli said that "Dreamgirls is a wonderful entertainment: a
musical that, while not skimping on the music, delivers a multi-layered
storyline featuring complex characters."
- Please. It's way too long, the characters are clichés, so
is the plot. (Infidelity, drug abuse, self-destructive jealousy,
ambition, greed. It's like they have a checklist.) With one
exception—see below—acting is from bad to mediocre.
(It's nice that Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar, but—c'mon.)
- But the music is good, right?
- No, it's beyond
awful. It's allegedly supposed to be 60's and 70's-style Motown.
It doesn't sound like that at all. The lyrics are insipid.
We are a family
Arrrgh! Shut up!
Like a giant tree
Branching out towards the sky
We are a family
We are so much more than just you and I
We are a family
Like a giant treeIf you get trapped into watching this movie, my suggestion is to build a Holland/Dozier/Holland playlist on your iPod, and when someone starts singing in the movie, turn the video volume down, and your iPod volume up. I would rather listen to "Baby Love" 200 times in a row than any of these songs ever again.
[Update: OK, one exception.]
- But you gave the movie two stars?
- Two words: Eddie Murphy. When he's on the screen, Dreamgirls becomes a different movie. A much better one. Is there any way to program your DVD player to just show the Eddie Murphy scenes? Do that.