Let me be the pop charts and climb me, girls

Two things about Dreamgirls you've probably already heard but which must be acknowlegded as true: Yes, Eddie Murphy's acting and singing is outstanding. And yes, Beyonce Knowles' ass should have had its own credit.

My land.

Knowles is awkward when she has to speak dialogue (the dialogue doesn't help) but absolutely captivating when she sings or especially dances.

It wouldn't normally be like me to use a word like "Bootylicious," but...

I'm sorry, I seem to have drifted.

Jamie Foxx is good, but he's got the least of the material here.

As for Jennifer Hudson, well, nobody with ears is going to say the lady can't sing. But only time will tell whether her Oscar win was the beginnings of a long list of achivements (think Julie Andrews win for Mary Poppins).

Or a fluke of the right material for the right person (think Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives). Right now I'd say it's even money.

Nice low-key supporting performance by Danny Glover, too. And the presence of Hinton Battle in a small role was a pleasant surprise. I first heard Battle sing on the stage soundtrack to The Wiz, in which he created the role of the Scarecrow, and have always remembered both the memorable name and the performance. Buffy fans will know him as the demon Sweet in the likable but overrated "Once More, with Feeling" episode.

Incidentally, a clever in-joke in the script manages to work in references to both The Wiz and In Living Color, where of course Foxx was a member of the cast.

Put most simply, the performances in Dreamgirls are almost all slightly better than the music, but both performances and music are much better than the screenplay. The movie is well worth seeing for them alone.

Some of the alternate and extended scenes on the DVD suggest there might be a movie I would have liked a little bit better "on the cutting room floor." All that would have been needed, IMO, were just a few minutes here or there to make the character arcs just a little less difficult to follow.

The male performers, especially Foxx & Battle, seem to especially suffer from this. Ok, the movie was already half an hour longer than most, but the long version of "Steppin' To The Bad Side" still should have been included.

Better than expected behind-the-scenes footage on the second disc too, including two of the girl groups in the film getting into a musical cutting contest during down time. It starts with the song "Straight And Nappy" from the School Daze soundtrack...