This is a marvelous piece of musical as adapted to the screen. It’s funny how there seem to be two philosophies of musical adaptation. Either make something that would be impossible to do on stage, or be as faithful to the stage performance as possible. This one takes the latter, as it presents Dreamgirls in a brilliant but traditional way.
It’s been a while, so I don’t remember the principle’s names, but Three Girls form a trio and become marketed as the Dreams, and chase the idea of musical equality on the charts of white music. Along the way their producer begins a lot of funny business deals, including a lot of black money, and manipulates everyone to make things sell, and make himself successful.
Along the way he wrongs many people, including a lounge singer names Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy, Beverly Hills Cop) and many others. It’s got an all star cast including Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx (Collateral) and Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon).
Aesthetically it’s beautiful, and deals with a great deal of thoughts on the aesthetics of the 60’s and 70’s, and looks at the beauty in the clothing and expression of African-American culture. It’s a period piece, and everyone plays a cultural part.
The theme is redemption, of course. It’s a huge critique of societies ills and the corruption of the show business industry when you mix it with greed. One desperate element is combustible, more than one lethal. 2.
