Dreamgirls — the review’s up!

My review of Dreamgirls is now up at CT Movies — and since I was a last-minute pinch-hitter filling in for another critic who would almost certainly have known the film’s subject matter much, much better than I do, all I can say is that, when it comes to this particular movie, I bow before Armond White.

DEC 30 UPDATE: And now I bow before Ken Eisner, who kicks his review off with an observation …

It’s beyond ironic that the musical, a Broadway staple from the 1980s (created by Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen), attempts to make a statement about authenticity—specifically the dilution of black music in American entertainment—when the film version is so spectacularly superficial. Its central premise is that people don’t know, or actively fear, real soul when they see it. And that’s unintentionally borne out by this production.

… that I spent the bulk of my review fumbling towards.