Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls isn't open in Utah County yet. I'm not sure why. It's a little irksome, because it's one of the big movies we were excited about seeing, and I was sure that by the 2nd week of it being open it would be in Provo. Not so.

Last night we decided it had just been too long and Ben, Melissa, Nick & I made the trek to Salt Lake to see it. I just have to say, I really really liked it. I don't know that I agree with all of the other reviews, though.

#1- Jennifer Hudson has an AMAZING voice. Aretha Franklin amazing. I was totally blown away by her singing. And for a girl who has never acted before, she pulled this part off nicely. But let me just say now, if she wins an Oscar for this movie (or any of the other awards for which she is nominated) it will be for her singing, not her acting. She's fine. Even good. But she's not mind blowing. She's first time good. She's playing her own type. She's playing angry. Not as impressive as some other people have been this year, if you ask me.

My main argument, she is completely incapable of cleanly lip syncing to herself. I'm sure it's because she's one of those people that never sings a song the same twice, but it was HIGHLY distracting. That's part of making a movie like this. REHEARSE IT. Figure it out. It just looks bad when you don't look like you're really singing. And no, it was not the editor. Everyone else did just fine.

#2- On that note, Beyonce's performance is highly underrated. I thought she did a lovely job. She has an amazing voice, and, as a seasoned lip syncer from many a music video, made me believe she was singing right there on set. She played Deana with the sweetness and the lack of diva that was appropriate, and while it would have been easy to maintain her Beyonce isms in a movie about someone just like her, she didn't. Everything from her voice to her posture was in character, and I appreciated that.

#3- The supporting cast was awesome. It is for sure a musical, in the sense that people break into song at weird times. It has some truly cheesey moments. But overall, it's a well put together film and definitely accomplishes what it was made to do. . . bring a great musical to the big screen without losing it's heart.

A side note. . . I'm a little embarassed to say that I told off a couple of loud teenagers about a half hour before the movie ended. They were giggling and running around, and I had had enough. I thumped up the stairs to their seats and asked them to shut up. They were snotty in return, but at least they shut up. Why do people go to movies, especially movies like that, to talk? Seriously, go to Dennys if you want to giggle and flirt.