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DVD Review: 'Dreamgirls: 2-Disc Showstopper Edition'
Take your time, not 'One Night Only' for all the extras
Hanh Nguyen
Zap2It.com
May 1 2007
Bill Condon's glitzy, well-acted film adaptation of "Dreamgirls" takes place over two decades. If one isn't careful, that's how long it feels to get through all of the detailed bonus features on the movie's 2-disc DVD.
After taking the informative and meticulously produced bonuses in during two sittings, I was so inundated with all things "Dreamgirls," I felt I could have made the film myself. Even for true fans of the film, it would be best to take the extras in small, considered doses.
Based on the Broadway musical, "Dreamgirls" centers on the R&B girl group The Dreams, their rise to fame and the various members' sacrifices over the years. Condon's adaptation won critical acclaim for its editing, sound, look, music, costumes and acting that includes Jennifer Hudson's Oscar-winning performance in the signature role of Effie White.
With the wealth of bonus features, there's bound to be some redundancy, especially since the "Building the Dream" section revolves around nine featurettes in addition to several more on the remainder of the disc. Most of the extras under the "Building" section are short and well focused, whether it's choreography in "You Better Move, Move" or casting in "I'm Looking for Something," which includes footage of Hudson's prophetic parting words "There's something in store for me," when she was voted off "American Idol."
"On Broadway" details Condon's first exposure to the play in the '80s, while "The Dream Is Alive" follows with his decision to bring the musical to the big screen. "Feel So Real" centers on pre-production, "The Sound of Tomorrow" revolves around some of the new songs and recording sessions, while "One Night Only" tracks the film's New York red carpet premiere.
A word of warning for "Gonna Take a Mean Ride," both A and B sides: It's a long ride to take since it's basically a production diary that follows the film day by day, highlighting the songs, choreography and acting along the way. This could have been the DVD's sole bonus feature since it's comprehensive and entertaining, especially when it shows the behind-the-scenes antics such as the impromptu showdown between the Step Sisters and the Dreamettes and a surprise drag performance by the crew. It also focuses on how Hudson grew as an actress in order to perform the Effie's showstopper "I'm Telling You."
Additional featurettes that don't fall under the "Building the Dream" umbrella also populate the disc, with the film editing and theatrical lighting offering insight into the more technical side of filmmaking that was crucial to the timing of the musical. The featurette on costuming outlined the designer's strategy for each character: how the Dreams' dresses had to be simple enough to appear in triplicate, how Curtis was a businessman chameleon calculated to impress and how one of Effie's looks was an homage to Barbra Streisand.
The auditions and screen tests show just how raw Beyonce and Anika Noni Rose's talent is. Beyonce did the research on how the women performers moved during that era and delivered a convincing rendition of the song "Dreamgirls" in full costume, hair and makeup. Rose's effortless yet powerful singing shows how important casting the third-banana character Lorrell was.
The disc also includes several galleries and previsualization sequences -- storyboards and live, stand-in segments timed and edited together with temporary audio.
EXTRAS : Building the Dream; Dream Logic: Film Editing; Dressing the Dreams: Costume Design; Center Stage: Theatrical Lighting; auditions and screen tests; previsualization sequences; image gallery
PRICE: $34.99
