Dreamgirls (2006)

Update:  I didn't even really feel like watching Dreamgirls again.  I just wasn't in the mood for a musical.  I put it on mostly for background noise while I was doing other things.  I kept getting sucked in by the performances and the music, though, so about halfway through, I gave up trying to do anything else.  It's such a great film, head to toe.  I think this will be one of those musicals that becomes a classic film.  I can't imagine another cast that could have done a better job with it.
Originally published:  01 Jul 13    I'll end up owning a copy of this one.  It's not that it was particularly moving to me, but it has a great amount of re-watchability.

In early 1960's Detroit, a girl group called the Dreamettes auditions for a local talent competition.  They don't win but do manage to pick up a manager:  a used car salesman named Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx).  Taylor gets them a job as backup singers for an established R&B performer named Jimmy Early (Eddie Murphy).  He also starts pushing for a more pop-friendly style, angering Jimmy's long-time manager (Danny Glover).  However, the change works and Jimmy starts moving up the charts, eventually headlining at the Crystal Room in Miami, a previously white-only position.  However, Jimmy is found to be too threatening to white audiences, so Curtis focuses on making the renamed Dreams into a star vehicle.  He replaces lead singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) with thinner, more commercial Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles), infuriating Effie who sees it as a betrayal.  As the 60's come to a close, Curtis is after a "new sound" but will it cost him everything he's built?

How many people forgot that Eddie Murphy used to be considered a great actor?  I did.  It's been a long time since I saw his name on a poster and didn't immediately cringe.  He is amazing here.  I hadn't seen Beyoncé in a movie since Goldmember where she was awful, but she's much improved here.  The music is great, and I'll probably end up getting the soundtrack at some point, but it's not as "musical"-ly as I thought it would be until the second half.  That's when they start singing portions of dialogue at each other.