"DREAMGIRLS" ('06)..... A- ... This is a complete musical in every sense of the word and it deserves to be the smash hit that it is. The choreography is very fine and the songs are just wonderful. Best of all, the casting has been done to perfection with several roles that are surprising in that they reflect a departure far from the norm for the actors involved.

These standout performances are well worth mentioning. Eddy Murphy leads the list in his surprising role as James "Thunder" Early, an early R & B singer who never quite broke out and then finally lost himself to drugs. He was too rough to be a crossover artist for the White audiences still lingering under the noxious fumes of segregation in their musical preferences. Murphy is great here and he deserves a Best Supporting Actor nod for his multitalented role.

Jamie Foxx is also very impressive as the devious Curtis Taylor, Jr., a former used car salesman who brought that low business reputation to his career as the Zvengali of rising Detroit Black artists. He had an eye for talent and also one for the ladies, but business always came first for this cold and calculating person who happened to be a promotional genius.

The singers are more than up to the task of belting out their songs, especially American Idol runner-up Jennifer Hudson as Effie White, a powerful, full-voiced singer who ended up being replaced as the lead singer for the Dreamettes because she was a handful to deal with. More importantly, she was replaced because she was too hefty in a new television age which demanded images of svelte youth and beauty, a trend that continues to this day. Beyoncé Knowles, a gorgeous woman with high cheekbones like Faye Dunaway, is just perfect as her replacement.

My main complaint with this movie is that it is too long at two hours and 11 minutes with minor side plots being dealt with that should have been dispensed with. And everything is all tied up in an all too neat bow at the end when life isn't at all like that. The villains suffer for their villainy and all of the singers end in a saccharine shower of hugs and kisses, mutual recognition, and forgiveness. A bit too maudlin and schmaltzy for my likes.

Finally, I do wonder about the historical accuracy of this film. There were dozens of Black musical sensations, R & B and otherwise, on the Top 40 charts of the mid-Fifties era. I know, because I bought all their records. Ike and Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Bill Haley and the Comets, The Moonglows, Bo Diddley, The Platters, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Five Satins, The Coasters, and Jackie Wilson are just a few of the more famous Black artists and groups. Furthermore, Dick Clark's American Bandstand is widely credited with being one of the first, if not the first, nationwide show to feature Black performers.

While I appreciate the important historical background presented in this film, I would have liked it to have been more definitive, especially in its time frame. The early Sixties is inferred, but that era seems to me to be far too late to suggest that Black performers couldn't get radio air time. 131 minutes and PG-13 for language, some sexuality, and drug content.