Dreamgirls Two-Disc Showstopper Edition
June 2007 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

They say that we each have a soundtrack to our lives. Some soundtracks are soulfully optimistic, while others are a collection of desperate melodies that speak of pain and hardship. Then there are those soundtracks that support a darker, more sinister life. In all soundtracks as in all lives, the mood can change from scene to scene.

The soundtrack to Deena Jones, Lorrell Robinson and Effie White’s lives starts promising -- a bouncing melody to match their young, optimistic energy. The soundtrack to the life of Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) is less melodic, more hectic. It builds into a song of industry and optimism but with chords that underscore trepidation and mistrust. Like most lives, Taylor’s doesn’t go as planned. The entrepreneur who has the Midas touch changes into a lost man whose loyalties have been corrupted by greed.

James Thunder Early, played with incredible charm by Eddie Murphy, is the most tragic of characters. His life-tune degenerates from a cocksure charisma to a broken will. His manager, played by a fatherly Danny Glover, shares the same tune, but he remains a man that doesn’t abandon his principles.

This entire cast is superb. Their passionate performances flow seamlessly into each gorgeous musical number. Murphy and Jennifer Hudson are standouts. Who knew Murphy had the chops to deliver such a layered performance or that an American Idol winner actually had that much talent? The only downside to this energetic production is that some songs go on a tad too long. The pivotal "And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going" went on about two minutes too long. Otherwise the songs are top-notch with "Patience" being one of my favorites.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio quality surpasses the video quality. The sound was always clean, clear and dynamic, with very good dialogue intelligibility and a nice expansive surround mix that placed you in the middle of each spectacular musical number. Motion and compression artifacts took away from video quality a bit. Scenes with a surplus of neon lights tended to create macro block compression artifacts, while some quick pans caused slight tearing in the image. Yet daylight scenes in Detroit and dark scenes in the clubs where the Dreamgirls performed were sharp and free of overly aggressive softening.

The copious features contained on a second DVD were very good overall. A full-length making-of documentary overshadows some lesser still-image galleries. I really enjoyed the editing featurette. You get the sense from director Bill Condon that the music within the film had been a huge part of his own personal soundtrack.

The title is also available on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, where many of the video problems have been eliminated.

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