Dreamgirls will make you feel alright!

The Trevvy screening of Dreamgirls was held at the Golden Village Gold Class Cinemas in Vivocity. Complete with private lounge and plush electronic recliner seats, it is incontrovertibly deserving of the term Gold Class. There were attendants on hand to attend to any requests for (overpriced)snacks or beverages, there were blankets to keep us warm, the seats were comfortable and spacious - what more could anyone ask for?

A musical tour de force! Dreamgirls was a knockout! The movie didn't feel draggy(unlike say Babel), the two and a half hours seeming to fly by in an exuberant display of singing, dancing, theatrics and a good deal of glitter, sparkle and all round razzle-dazzle. Beneath this glossy sheen, the harsh realitites of show business are exposed. Drug abuse, payola, discrimination, the emphasis on image, the constant pressure to have a fresh and appealing sound, sacrificing uniqueness for generic broad based appeal - all of which are sadly still very much a part of the music industry today.

Dreamgirls has an added dimension of tragedy because the audience is aware that the movie is based on real events - it's the biography of the Supremes, or rather of Diana Ross & The Supremes. Florence Ballard (who is the inspiration for Jennifer Hudson's character Effie White) was sidelined because their manager felt that Diana Ross, with her higher register and better looks, was more likely to ensure crossover success to the pop(read white) charts. Unlike Effie White however, Florence Ballard never fully recovered from her downward spiral and died in relative poverty.

While Beyonce is competent in her role as Deena Jones, she is outperformed and outsung by Hudson, who oozes with attitude, anger, frustration, disappointment - the whole gamut of emotions that are expected from someone who was betrayed by those she loved. In a revealing moment, Curtis Taylor(played by Jamie Foxx) tells Deena that the reason he chose her to front the Dreamgirls was because her voice was generic and lacked depth. This criticism of Deena was by extension a criticism of Beyonce herself and the current pop music scene. This is not to say that Beyonce can't sing - she is certainly one of the better singers of her generation - but rather reflects the fact that in the world of commercial music, a distinct voice (think Macy Gray, or Fantasia) that deviates too far from convention is not always appreciated.

As consumers, we are guilty of supporting this trend. Having witnessed her singing on Dreamgirls which ranged from dramatic to on the verge of possession, I for one cannot fathom Jennifer Hudson delivering a song like Irreplaceable. And it is songs like Irreplaceable that become across the board certified smash hits. Even Beyonce herself isn't spared from this rule. Witness Deja Vu and Ring The Alarm, where she turned on the eccentricity and was thus rewarded with two underperforming singles. On a similar note, I preferrd the disco-tised version of One Night Only to Effie's vocally overpowering, instrumentally sparse version.

Moving away from the ladies(and since she sadly gets ignored by everyone let me just mention that Anika Noni Rose turned in a respectable performance too), Eddie Murphy was also impressive - and most deserving of his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor - in his role as James Thunder Early, who falls into depression and drug abuse as his career declines - a musical cliche that is sadly still all too real. It was a refreshing change to see Eddie Murphy taking on a serious role as opposed to the usual Nutty Professor and Norbit.

In some ways, Dreamgirls was a microcosm of the music industry, and indeed celebrity as a whole. Beneath the glamour and glossy sheen lie insecure, broken and desperate people who have the resources(and thus the ability) to screw their lives up. Money provides a buffer to hitting rock bottom. I don't think I have to mention who I feel most identifies with this situation now.

For all that - and also because I could relate to the movie on a more personal level, when you consider the relationship between Deena and Curtis - Dreamgirls is the most enjoyable movie I have seen in quite a while (and that includes heavyweights like Babel, Little Children, The Queen, and Blood Diamond) and was definitely robbed of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.