This was announced as the frontrunner for this year’s Oscars almost literally the day after last year’s telecast and all year, even after listening to the original cast recording of the show – which, despite containing the two great songs “One Night Only” and “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”, ultimately did absolutely nothing for me – I’ve been wondering what the fuss is all about. And basically, the answer is Jennifer Hudson. She’ll win the Oscar for certain. I often use that quote from François Truffaut, “I’m not interested in all the films that don’t vibrate,” and to repeat what’s been said so many times I almost don’t want to say it, the “I’m Telling You” scene really does threaten to burst out of the screen, and the argument scene that builds into it, set against a backdrop of mirrors and featuring nearly all the key cast members, really showcases Bill Condon’s talent as a director.

As for the rest of the movie, it’s slick, quick, and all in all a hell of a lot better than I expected. There’s a lot of movies I’d rather have success at this year’s Oscars … but if this is to sweep, then so be it, it wouldn’t bother me too much. I don’t know about the Eddie Murphy buzz, though. For me, Jamie Foxx’s lead work was much more worthy of recognition, more than making amends for Miami Vice and proving that Ray wasn’t just a flash in the pan (in fact, now I think about it, I think this is even better than that). Also, though the three new songs blend into the original stuff perfectly, none of them stand out nearly as much “One Night Only” and “I’m Telling You”. Still, this movie is by far one of the better ‘must-sees’ of the year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 4:36 pm in 4 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.