Official site: dreamgirlsmovie.com
OK, where can I begin? How can I be honest? Easy. How can I be fair? I can do that. How can I be balanced? What was wrong with this movie? Where can I begin? There's so much to say. I love theater and musicals too but something here was just missing. I walked into this movie expecting the best and being very open to receive any and all that they did, but there were still many things wrong with it.
How do I feel right now as I write this? I feel like I just had a big piece of razzle dazzle ice cream cake with all the toppings but once I bit into it I found out it was lacking something. Did I say something? I meant to say a lot of things! This was not a bad movie, it was a good movie, but it could have been a really great movie and I feel like it just fell short of true greatness.
Let me start off by saying the production design, costumes, period pieces, hair, makeup, choreography was very good but I expected no less. My main problem with this movie was the story itself. Question - Why must all show business official and non-official pics and bio-pics follow the basic same script? How boring does that get?
Another thing that eventually ticked me off about this movie is, if you're going to make a movie about Motown then dammit, make a movie about Motown. We all know who you're referencing by now: Diana Ross and The Supremes, Berry Gordy, The Jackson 5 and more. At this point, why not just say that in the movie and let's roll with that? But OK, I know, that was the story of Dreamgirls The Broadway play. I guess what I am saying now is, "Let's Just Make The Motown Movie!" because the references are so close I almost cringed each time. Detroit? The Motor City? The 1960s, and 70s? Come On!
OK, now, this is something that they did right and I was glad they showed it. Like a Motown, they showed how the Black Artists had to basically "water down" or "lighten up" their sound so the rest of White America could "get it." So the tunes could sell, so the singles could be played and "cross-over" etc. And if they didn't do that, their sound was stolen by the larger record companies and they put their white artists on the covers as their own. That was important to show to me because it goes into the countless number of Black Artists whose music and songs were ripped off in a "take it and claim it" way by record companies. They also touched into the Payola "Pay For Play" Issue which I thought was important to show.
I have heard that story told in so many ways across the Black Music boards, it's becoming old hat and just angers me again and again but it's important to tell that story.
My main problem with this movie is not that they did everything I expected them to do because they basically did - but it still misses in many ways where I felt like it should have hit. Why should there have been no misses? Because to me when everybody is getting paid and paid well to do what they do, there should be no misses. If you got the greenlight for the $100 million dollar budget, I want a little thing called actor chemistry to be magic too.
I would honestly say about 1/4 into this movie it was obvious to me they missed doing a lot of things. I also had the incredible feeling of being rushed through a story though the camera work was very well done.
Another thing that ticked me off about this movie being an audio professional myself, is it sounded heavily looped each time they began singing. I hate that! I want it to sound flawless. I don't want to be able to tell when the actors went back into the studio for looping. It irritates me! OK! Moving on!
It's great to see especially a Black movie on a Superstar level on the big screen because we don't see it that much so I'm happy for that, but there were just so many things they could have worked on better, script and storywise, it just fell through to me and did not deliver on that end.
Would I see this movie again? Honestly, I don't feel rushed to in the smallest bit. Would I buy this movie on DVD? Well, because I am a music lover, maybe to see the bonus features. Is it worth seeing on cable or television? I think this movie will do very well on cable and TV. Did this movie knock me off my feet? No. Did it live up to the hype overall? Not for me. They actually overhyped it which killed it. Is Jennifer Hudson all that? She's good but her rendition of "And I Am Telling You" just did not knock me out like Jennifer Holiday's version. As far as I am concerned Jennifer Holiday OWNS that song from can't see in the morning until can't see at night!
Also, if this movie can be used as a conduit to prove to Hollywood that a Black major motion picture can fill up movie screens with ticketbuyers and that will eventually lead to more Black movies in the musical and drama realm getting greenlighted, I am all for it. We need a movie on Motown. We need a movie on The Four Tops. We need a movie on Stax. We need a movie on all the Black Groups from the 50s, 60s and 70s. We need all of that.
I thought that all of the new actors played their parts basically well, it's just that special something was missing. Actor Ensemble Camaraderie? Chemistry? I am still trying to put my finger on what it was. Actor cohesion? LOL!
Would I recommend seeing this movie? Sure, knock yourself out! What rating would I give it? For all the bells and whistles I give them an A for effort, actually, I would give them an artificial A since they hit us up with so much artificial fluff overall for the story and for actor ability/chemistry I give it a low C if for no other reason than it is now 2006 and we have advanced enough to get a story right and done well! LOL! Can somebody say "acting coach and acting lessons, where are you?" LOL!
There were also moments in this movie where I wish they would have gone with a tad bit older experienced actresses (maybe 5 to 10 yrs older) for the roles of the three DreamGirls. Seasoned. And no, we still would not to have known there names before this movie.
In closing, it's one thing to tell me your story. It's another thing to tell me your story and you made me feel your story. You made me feel for your characters, etc. This is where Dreamgirls fell short. I honestly don't even know who to put it on - The Director, The Producer, The Editor, The Screenwriters? Why didn't I leave the theater feeling 100% blown away? I guess time will tell.
On a positive note, the soundtrack will probably do well and it will probably even inspire kids to not give up on their dreams which I am all for.
Overall, I think they tried to make a happy compromise by making it feel like the Broadway stageplay in spots while at the same time giving us a movie. Did it work successfully? Everyone will decide for themselves.
Let me know what you thought about it in the Comments Section!
2 comments :
I agree that it is overhyped - go in expectingnothing & you will leave refreshed.
In addition Jennifer Hudson is a good singer - but she is an OKAY actress. Damn people have short memories these days, eother that or they need to reminded about what a real quality actress/singer can do with a great song.
All that said, I liked the film much better than when I saw the stage production about 5 years ago - I think they mightly improved the story and added some catchier tunes.
Cool! Yes, my Mom saw it for the second time and said almost exactly what you just said. It works on it's own level if you just go in expecting nothing. She also just told me it works better the second time around having just seen it twice. Interesting. I can't see myself seeing it again anytime soon though! Lol! Maybe at a matinee?! I'm glad they made it though, just expected more, not even based on the hype, just because.
Post a Comment