Dreamgirls
DreamWorks SKG | Release Date: December 15, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The movie belongs to Hudson as the proud, self-destructive Effie. When she's center stage, Dreamgirls transports you to movie musical heaven. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Hudson, taking over the role of Effie played on stage by Jennifer Holliday, is in charge of Dreamgirls from her opening scene, blowing away Grammy-winner Beyoncé Knowles, Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx and anyone else who gets in her way. Read full review
100
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The sigh you will hear across the country in the next few weeks is the sound of a gratified audience: a great movie musical has been made at last. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Dreamgirls is one of the best movie musicals in memory. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The ovation that Hudson wins from the movie's audience is one of those miraculous moments when a performer's artistry breaks through the screen and makes you feel part of a live audience. I haven't experienced anything like it since Barbra Streisand sang "My Man" at the end of her astonishing debut in Funny Girl. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Though it seems long and its pace occasionally lags, it certainly struck me as a well-mounted, gloriously eye-filling and often exhilarating entertainment that brings back some of the delicious excitement of the great movie musicals. Read full review
90
VarietyDavid Rooney
Finally. After "The Phantom of the Opera," "Rent" and "The Producers" botched the transfer from stage to screen, Dreamgirls gets it right. Bill Condon's adaptation of the 1981 show about a Motown trio's climb to crossover stardom pulls off the fundamental double-act those three musical pics all missed: It stays true to the source material while standing on its own as a fully reimagined movie. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Dreamgirls is the entire musical package, a triumph of old school on-screen glamour, and we wouldn't want it any other way. Read full review
90
SlateDana Stevens
For all its flaws, Dreamgirls is what this holiday season needs. It's a big, fat, luscious movie in which no one is tortured, murdered, or mutilated (honestly, how many recent films can you say that about?). Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderAlbert Williams
Elegant, unabashedly theatrical, and packed with lush concert scenes and period-perfect costumes. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
Even when it feels packaged like a holiday entertainment that aims to please, watching Dreamgirls is like being on cloud nine. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This baby dazzles like nothing else anywhere. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Dreamgirls is good and at times it touches greatness. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Murphy is a revelation as James, and what American Idol castoff Hudson lacks in technical acting craft she makes up for in raw energy and a voice that could melt the rhinestones off a beauty queen. To complain that Beyonce pales by comparison is to fault her for nailing the essence of the infinitely malleable Deena. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Bill Condon's screen adaptation of the 1981 Broadway sensation is, if possible, as dazzling and energizing as its source. Read full review
88
PremiereStephen Saito
The reason to see Dreamgirls is what hasn't been advertised - a film that in spite of its shiny veneer actually hits all the high notes through its underlying rawness. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Dreamgirls is the rare movie musical with real rapture in it. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The film is like a lot like Effie: It occasionally vexes or disappoints, but -- I am telling you -- it dazzles. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
If there is a disappointment, it is this: The anticipation may have exceeded the realization. It's a damn good commercial movie, but it is not the film that will revive the musical or win over the world. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss/Richard Schickel
It's great to see a movie musical with a smart sense of the genre. All Dreamgirls lacks is the amazing energy and passion of the original. Read full review
80
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Condon grasps what has eluded most of his contemporaries: Anyone can give us the old razzle-dazzle, but what makes a movie musical soar is nothing more or less than the quiet exhilaration of two individuals on the screen, enraptured by song. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie Errigo
Ardent, accomplished, overwhelmingly emotional, with something to say and a dream cast saying it in song. Bravo. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Jennifer Hudson is the heart and soul of Dreamgirls. When she's on the screen, the movie shines. When she's not, the whole endeavor suffers. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Dreamgirls may be good enough to win the Oscar for Best Picture - great costumes, sets and choreography help - but despite stellar work by erstwhile "American Idol" contestant Hudson and Murphy, it's far from a great picture. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Indeed, without Hudson's magic, without that extra feeling that comes from seeing the launch of something extraordinary, Dreamgirls might have been a break-even affair. The film has strong roles, good actors and a compelling story that takes place over the course of 10 or 15 years. But it has, with only a couple of exceptions, a pedestrian score that sounds like generic show-music schlock and lyrics that are not distinctive. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Dreamgirls is performed, shot, edited and packaged like a coming-attractions trailer for itself. Ordinarily that would be enough to sink a film straight off, unless you're a fan of "Moulin Rouge." But this one's a good time. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Without Hudson, Dreamgirls would be a whole lot less exciting. Knowles, the ostensible star, is rather bland, and Foxx, surprisingly, seems miscast. Murphy is wonderful, but that should be no surprise. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The film soars in the right places, especially when powerful newcomer Jennifer Hudson sings, and the charismatic supporting cast keeps it chugging forward. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
This glitzy, infectious and unusually heartfelt musical doesn't always hang together as a satisfying narrative -- too many characters compete for too little screen time -- but its pleasures are numerous enough to override its flaws. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
She's (Jennifer Hudson) the best part of the show by far, but the writer-director Bill Condon, who wrote the screenplay for "Chicago" four years ago, has done the original "Dreamgirls" proud without solving its dramatic problems.
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The problem with “Dreamgirls” -- and it is not a small one -- lies in those songs, which are not just musically and lyrically pedestrian, but historically and idiomatically disastrous. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
I know I'm going to bring down the room by saying I think it's just okay. Well, Jennifer Hudson is more than okay. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's taken Dreamgirls 25 years and several false starts to get to the screen, so it's a shame to see what a rush job it feels like. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Even with Hudson's triumphant arrival and an overall fizzy mood of singing, dancing, pop nostalgia and camp, Dreamgirls is an uneven crowd pleaser. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Dreamgirls is a better musical than "Chicago" or "Rent," but then, that isn't really saying much. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
There's so little love to be found in Dreamgirls. It's a product that promises magic, and yet gives us nothing to live on. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It's the ultimate pop-culture sacrilege: a movie about soul music that has no soul. Read full review
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