MovieMantz Rantz: A 'Dream' Come True (August 15, 2006)

Access Hollywood

by Scott Mantz

Far be it for me to post a review for a movie that doesn't open in theaters until December 21, but based on the 20-minute preview I saw the other night, the long awaited big screen version of the musical "Dreamgirls" is poised to be a huge critical and box office hit that could give 2002's Best Picture-winner "Chicago" a run for its money.

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Then again, it makes perfect sense, since "Chicago" screenwriter Bill Condon wrote and directed "Dreamgirls," the $75 million adaptation of the Tony Award-winning 1981 stage musical that's loosely based on the rise and fall of Diana Ross and the Supremes.

The preview highlighted four specific scenes, in which Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx plays the driven manager of an up-and-coming 60's girl group called the Dreamettes, while pop superstar Beyonce Knowles, Tony-winner Anika Noni Rose and former "American Idol" hopeful Jennifer Hudson round out the trio.

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The acting was superb, the production values were stylish and top notch, and the musical performances were so rousing, thrilling and moving that I got the chills. The cast is bound to be showered with Oscar nominations, especially Foxx and Knowles, who rises to the occasion in her first substantial lead role after meager supporting parts in the third "Austin Powers" movie and this year's remake of "The Pink Panther."

Jennifer Hudson will surely get the last laugh after being booted by grumpy "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, but perhaps the biggest revelation of "Dreamgirls" is Eddie Murphy, who reinvents his career with a scorching, scene-stealing, Oscar-worthy turn as a James Brown-inspired singer named James Thunder Early.

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