Very underwhelming!

"Maybe you just don't see me for who I am."

I expected good things from Dreamgirls - mainly because of the large amount of critical acclaim it received - but at the end of the day I was vastly disappointed.

The movie is the story of a (fictional) trio of sisters who search for their big break. Once they find a manager (Foxx) and hit the road for a tour with hit pop singer (Murphy) their experiences only end in tears as they encounter several major struggles.

First of all, I appreciate the fact that it's a musical based on a Broadway production. But the first 35 minutes sets up the film as a potent drama that tells its story through the powerful performances and poignant dialogue.

But then the film takes a turn for the worst...and the style shifts unnecessarily to that of a musical as the characters begin arguing through song. There were only about 5 songs like these, which in the long run was the film's biggest downfall. The musical style appeared to be the film's second self that only appears very rarely. If it's a musical, it has to stay a musical for the tone to suit the film for its running time. Instead the film begins as a drama that has a number of annoying songs throughout which could instead be just scenes of drama and dialogue. If they want it to be a musical, they should have made the film a musical. Not a drama with songs!

Also, the film loses steam about 40 minutes in. The first 40 minutes moved at a brisk pace, with little chance for us to actually get to know the characters. And hence, when the troubles begin piling on top of each other it was impossible to care simply because we don't know the characters enough to care about them. It's like plummeting into the turmoil and troubles of a group of complete strangers. This detracted from my overall enjoyment of the movie.

Still, the singing was done exquisitely and the production design was purely dazzling! There's no denying that the whole cast did a fantastic job, but another of the film's multiple downfalls is that trying to empathise with such a large cast is essentially impossible. With films like Ray or Walk the Line we have a central character moving through major struggles in their life. Here the major shift in central characters on so many occasions was just frustrating!

Dreamgirls wrote a cheque it couldn't cash, unfortunately. In the long run it just isn't worth your 2 hours. I have no idea how this film got so many awards. Leave it on the shelf, and rent something better.

6/10