Genre Guesstimation – Dreamgirls (2006)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Debbie of Moon in Gemini and it is Movies about Musicians

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Nov by sending them to musicaldeb@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Movies About Musicians.…

“Maybe you just don’t see me for who I am.” – Deena Jones

Number of Times Seen – 2 (24 Jan 2007 and 1 Nov 2018)

Brief Synopsis – Musical about a trio of female singers during the 60’s and 70’s who rise to the top with the help of a new manager in the Motown music scene.

My Take on it – This is a film that I recall was quite popular when it came out largely due to the amazing music that works quite well the whole way through.

The story tho leaves a bit too much wanting since it drags along too much and is presented too soap operapy than seems necessary.

The cast is great but with such a talented cast, the biggest problem is that all of the characters seem to vie for more screen time which hurts the way they end up presenting the characters.

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson are the standout in this very popular cast and both of them were nominated for Oscars, Globes and SAG awards for their supporting roles with both winning at SAG and the Globes and only Hudson winning Gold at the Oscars for her performance here.

The biggest problem with this film is the fact that they try to cover too much ground and it feels a bit too crammed together which takes so much away from any kind of impact that this film can have.

Bottom Line – Amazing music but the story itself is dragged along for too much time and feels much more like a soap opera than it should.  Great cast but they all seem to be fighting for screen time which hurts the way the characters are presented.  Murphy and Hudson are both standout among the very talented cast and both received Supporting category Oscar nominations with Hudson winning.  The film tries too hard too cover too much territory and it all feels too crammed and loses much of its impact.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – This is the only film to ever lead in the number of nominations in a particular year (in this case eight) at the Academy Awards, but receive no Oscar nomination for Best Picture. (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Not really. The music is great, but the story is too soap operapy to be impactful.

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (6/10)

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