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Dreamgirls
Dec. 13th, 2025 07:12 amDreamgirls was quite the historical film, biopic-like film, despite not being a biopic. The NOT-Supremes get their start behind NOT-James Brown, and the formation of NOT Mowtown records.
There's a storyteller's saying: all of this is true, and some of it even happened. This film lives in that saying.
Some of the folks in the film looked familiar, but my brain said, "What? How can that be Eddie Murphy as Not James Brown?" My friends, they used film fu to amazing effect.
I thought the script solid. They had all the usual infighting and nasty actors of the music industry, drugs, sex, civil rights, turmoil, changing times, and so on. If you're used to biopics of this era, you will recognize all the same themes and conflicts. There was no need to invent anything new to power the drama. Money, fame, and ambition is more than enough to fill the plot arcs.
This was adapted from a stage musical, so that explained the solid book.
The sets and costumes were on point. Some of this could have been filmed at the moment. They utterly committed the physical world of the era, and you saw every penny of that on screen.
The weakest part of the film were the very good songs, which paled against the real thing because the songs of Motown were just that good. Recreating that magic is so hard that even the best in the business were hard pressed to get close.
I generally enjoyed the performances of all the leads. Nobody struck me as out of place or awkward, and Eddie Murphy impressed me by his sheer solidity and expression as Not James Brown.
I recommend this film to everyone.
There's a storyteller's saying: all of this is true, and some of it even happened. This film lives in that saying.
Some of the folks in the film looked familiar, but my brain said, "What? How can that be Eddie Murphy as Not James Brown?" My friends, they used film fu to amazing effect.
I thought the script solid. They had all the usual infighting and nasty actors of the music industry, drugs, sex, civil rights, turmoil, changing times, and so on. If you're used to biopics of this era, you will recognize all the same themes and conflicts. There was no need to invent anything new to power the drama. Money, fame, and ambition is more than enough to fill the plot arcs.
This was adapted from a stage musical, so that explained the solid book.
The sets and costumes were on point. Some of this could have been filmed at the moment. They utterly committed the physical world of the era, and you saw every penny of that on screen.
The weakest part of the film were the very good songs, which paled against the real thing because the songs of Motown were just that good. Recreating that magic is so hard that even the best in the business were hard pressed to get close.
I generally enjoyed the performances of all the leads. Nobody struck me as out of place or awkward, and Eddie Murphy impressed me by his sheer solidity and expression as Not James Brown.
I recommend this film to everyone.
