With the release of Dreamgirls this holiday season, the musical is once again elevated to high art and pure entertainment. I’m not sure how I missed that there was a Broadway musical by this name. I’m also not sure how I missed Tom Eyen’s wonderful Tony-winning book. All I know is that musicals can become very poor movies or very good movies—and Dreamgirls is pure dynamite, sure to be a big hit! This is the second time out writing a musical for director Bill Condon, and after Chicago and Dreamgirls, it will be difficult to find another person to crown “King of Turning Musicals into Movies.” I hope he takes on Wicked.

Condon seems to have found his real niche. He has written screenplays for and directed other dramas, but Kinsey and Gods and Monsters, though evidential of his talent, have not been great boxoffice successes. Add music and the passion of actors who perform it well, and Condon’s words and direction bloom on the screen. There is something to be said for people who are intelligent enough to recognize what they do well and keep on doing it. Condon not only writes with great talent, he knows how to work with a cast and get the best out of them, even beyond what they knew they had in them to give. And he has a truly phenomenal eye when it comes to framing shots and using closeups and montage.

Dreamgirls is the thinly-veiled story of a girl group like Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the building of the Motown record label in the days of what was called “Negro” music. (The physical likeness is so obvious that when the usual disclaimer about people or events not intentionally portraying anyone living or dead appeared on the screen at the end of the credits, the screening audience found it hilarious.) Deena, Lorrell, and Effie enter every singing contest they can find, hoping to win and become headliners on the Chitlin’ Circuit. Curtis Taylor, Jr. recognizes the explosive talent in these three young ladies and convinces them to compromise and go on the road as backup singers to James “Thunder” Early, who is desperately looking for a way to cross over into mainstream Rock and Roll that will grab a big piece of the white-nightclub money-machine.

Taylor is a manipulative user. His single-minded focus is to found a record label that will make him famous and wealthy beyond the dreams of his youth. Yes, he has a keen eye for talent—in that is found his greatest strength—but he will abuse the people he professes to love most to gain his own ends and will manipulate their lives based on transient values such as appearance. He is an expert at entrapping others into the “it’s all about me” way of thinking, which eventually destroys moral fiber and breaks hearts. Taylor finally comes to realize that he really has nothing of substance at all. In the process, he takes those he calls friends and loved ones on a roller coaster ride of greed, misled hope, and disillusionment.

The cast of Dreamgirls is fabulous. The chemistry between Jamie Foxx (Taylor), Beyoncé Knowles (Deena), Jennifer Hudson (Effie), Keith Robinson (Effie’s brother, C. C. White), and Eddie Murphy (Early) is a living breathing emanation that brings surging life to the pathos of people using each other—and knowing that they are being manipulated in return. For example, when Taylor dumps Effie for Deena because Deena is the “type” that makes a lead singer even though her voice is not as strong, Effie belts out “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”—and this song nearly brought the screening audience I was a part of to their feet in a standing ovation. (The fact that Jennifer Hudson lost on American Idol only proves my theory that Simon and his fellow judges really have no clue as to what good music is. The soundtrack of this movie is a must-have.) Everyone does their own singing and all perform superbly. Not only is the cast topnotch, every aspect of Dreamgirls fortifies the intention to go for the little gold bald guy. The costuming is phenomenal, the sets and locations wonderfully artistic but not distracting, the hair and makeup are the work of masterful craftspersons.

As if talent and beauty are not enough, Dreamgirls also has a strong message. It is the reminder that people need to be careful what they worship. Taylor is not the only character who falls at the feet of wealth and fame. Every character in the film “sells their soul” to be somebody and answer the call of materialism. Taylor denies his love for Effie and her love for him to claim Deena as the trophy wife and foundation of his record label empire. Deena chooses fame over friendship and destroys her relationship with Effie. Effie denies Taylor’s duplicity and grovels at the idol of his control of her destiny. Michelle replaces Effie without more than an instant of regret for Effie’s feelings. Even Effie’s own brother, C. C., repeatedly denies his sister and compromises at Taylor’s demands so that his songs will be sung and become hits.

At the end of the film, the audience sees individuals who are older and wiser, battered and scarred, but for the most part renewed and healed or on the road to it. There is a general spiritual epiphany that lives have been built on the shifting sand of fame and that the tides of time and individual choice have eroded joy and hope—the true wealth found in real love and honest friendship.

The MPAA has rated Dreamgirls PG-13 “for language, some sexuality, and drug content.” The rating seems reasonable as this movie does not target an audience under thirteen. However, I think it fair to note that the use of strong language is very limited, the sexuality is discreet (no nudity), and although an adult will understand what is being implied when it comes to the drugs, there is no footage of anyone actually using anything but alcohol. You definitely won’t feel uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger or your child.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Kathy attended a promotional screening of Dreamgirls.