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Forum nameGeneral Discussion
Topic subjectRE: dream girls the film what worked and what didn't?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=12790511&mesg_id=12790516
12790516, RE: dream girls the film what worked and what didn't?
Posted by b.Touch, Sun Apr-26-15 02:17 AM
>its the only film to get Eddie Murphy a Oscar nomination.
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>where you come on that fact on his long career?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences tends not to care for broad comedies, which would have shut Eddie Murphy out in every role he'd been in except for "Dreamgirls".

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>we know the pros and cons with Jennifer Hudson. did she reach
>her peak and prime all at once there?

Acting, probably. Singing, she's done fine here and there with her own music.
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>Jamie Foxx was cool in this role.

Disagreed. He was still and looked bored. He played Curtis like an automaton (and that was his decision; for whatever reason, the director either didn't fight him on it or fought & lost). Ben Harney was a lot better as Curtis 1981, and Chaz Lamar Shepard was better as Curtis in 2009. In all honesty, I'd've preferred Terrence Howard, who was something like #6 or 7 on their list of actors for the part; the way he plays Lucious on "Empire" is a lot how the Curtis character is supposed to be played.

(Foxx was always #1, and they had to beg him to take the part with its reduced upfront salary - Foxx wanted $15 mill + backend and benefits and ended up getting something closer to $3 milion)


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>Danny Glover was good in this one.

He was.

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>Beyonce just acts as herself.

I can't call what Bey was doing here "acting". She did a much better turn in "Cadillac Records" two years later.

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>will this film become cult status or was it just cool for the
>time period?


It's one of my favorite films ,but in the grand scheme of things, it'll be rated as third-tier among movie musicals - above "Bye Bye Birdie", but below "Chicago" and far below "Hairspray" (2007).

The biggest problem with "Dreamgirls" is its inconsistent tone. It began development after "Chicago" became a big hit, but began production after a string of musical flops - "Rent", "The Producers", etc. Therefore, many of the "musical" elements of the film were toned down, pulled out in edit, or not shot at all (fully half of "Cadillac Car" is missing, but they use the backing track as the song the band in the blues club is playing).

Unlike other musicals, "Dreamgirls" simply doesn't make sense if people aren't singing to each other from fairly close to the start. Thirty minutes into the film, Curtis turns around and starts singing to C.C. about "Steppin' to the Bad Side" and the audience just goes "WHET?"

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>anything motown and supremes related never will get old and
>always some form of film or show i see in the future.
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