Dreamgirls Page #8

Synopsis: Detroit, the early 1960s. Curtis Taylor, Jr., a car salesman, breaks into the music business with big dreams. He signs a trio of young women, the Dreamettes, gets them a job backing an R&B performer, James "Thunder" Early, establishes his own record label and starts wheeling and dealing. When Early flames out, Curtis makes the Dreamettes into headliners as the Dreams, but not before demoting their hefty big-voiced lead singer, Effie White, and putting the softer-voiced looker, Deena Jones, in front. Soon after, he fires Effie, sends her into a life of proud poverty, and takes Deena and the Dreams to the top. How long can Curtis stay there, and will Effie ever get her due?
Genre: Drama, Music, Musical
Director(s): Bill Condon
Production: Dreamworks
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 66 wins & 91 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
78%
PG-13
Year:
2006
130 min
$103,300,000
Website
10,948 Views


I can't do it no more.

I can't sing no more sad songs.

Hey, Curtis, this is supposed to be

your night, right?

Let's have some happy times.

Right, I'm gonna give you a count-off.

The rest of you all come in

when I tell you, all right?

What the hell's he doing?

One! Two! Three! Hit me!

Bass man, come on up!

One! Two! Three! Hit me!

Sound good! Yeah! Saxophone!

On the four!

One! Two! Three! Hit it!

Come on! Horns! Hit it!

Hey, Curly, let's rap with Jimmy Early

Got a home in the hills

Mercedes-Benz, hot swimming pool

Got lots of friends

Got clothes by the acre

Credit to spare

I could wake up tomorrow

and find nobody there

But Jimmy want more

Jimmy want more

Jimmy want, Jimmy want

Jimmy want more!

Listen!

Jimmy want a rib

Jimmy want a steak

Jimmy want a piece

of your chocolate cake

But more than all that

Jimmy wants a break

'Cause Jimmy got soul, Jimmy got soul

Jimmy got, Jimmy got, Jimmy got soul!

Sooner or later, the time comes around

For a man to be a man

Take back his sound

I gotta do somethin' to shake things up

I like Johnny Mathis

But I can't do that stuff

'Cause Jimmy got soul, Jimmy got soul

Jimmy got S-O-U-L soul!

I can't do rock, I can't do roll

What I can do, baby, is show my soul

'Cause Jimmy got soul, Jimmy got soul

Jimmy got, Jimmy got, Jimmy got soul!

Take it out.

Ladies and gentlemen,

please stay in your seats.

We're back live in two minutes.

- What'd you think of my show, baby?

- You made a fool out of yourself.

What are you talking about, man?

I was just being Jimmy.

Lorrell, will you please tell him,

if you can?

Jimmy keeps begging you for something

new, but all you do is ignore him.

Of course he's confused.

It don't take a whiz to know that only

a desperate man would drop his pants

in living colour on network television.

Thanks, Lorrell. You told it like it is.

Yeah, well, that ain't all

I got to say to you, sugar.

My brother, we're through.

What you talking about?

What do you mean, we're through?

Come on, Jimmy, your time has passed.

Hey, man, I got soul!

You can't kill a man with soul!

Come on, man.

Let's at least end as friends, man.

If you ever need some help,

just give me a call.

Whatever.

Hey, Curtis, I don't beg! I don't crawl!

I'm an original!

Hey, where are you going?

You can't leave me, girl. I love you.

And Lorrell loves Jimmy

Lorrell loves Jimmy

Lorrell loves Jimmy

It's true

But Lorrell and Jimmy

are through

I got a show to do.

Don't you remember, baby?

And now, please welcome the brightest

star in the Rainbow constellation,

Deena Jones

with the incredible Dreams!

Hello, America.

What a wonderful evening.

- I love you all.

- I love you, Deena!

I love you, too.

Curtis, baby, this is for you.

We are a family, like a giant tree

Branching out toward the sky

We are a family

We are so much more

More than just you and I

Time to go, Mr Early.

We are growing free

Yeah!

You're an incredibly beautiful woman.

- Thank you, Jerry.

- No, you're too beautiful.

This movie is about three grifters

heading to Vegas for one final score.

When Dawn goes down on

that truck driver,

you've got to smell the desperation.

I know that. That's what I love about her.

There's no pretence.

No f***ing bullshit.

America's sweetheart here

has got a potty mouth.

Of course, if I were to become involved,

we have to do a little work on the part.

What do you mean?

I spent a year on the script, so...

I know, and it's good.

But she's not real yet.

To start with,

what kind of name is Dawn?

I'm from the projects in Detroit and

I ain't ever met a sister named Dawn.

Well, the script's just a blueprint.

It's not written in stone.

I hear Curtis is still trying to get

that crazy black Cleopatra made.

Is it true he's got some

mob money tied up in this?

My husband has his hands full

with the music side right now.

That's why I didn't want to bother him

with our meeting today.

So, say we do decide

to get in bed with you on this,

will Curtis even let you do it?

I hear he's got you

on a pretty tight leash.

That won't be a problem, Jerry.

Step, step, step on over

Step, step, step on over

Wanting you, wanting you

Needing you, needing you

Sh*t.

- Hey.

- I didn't think it was possible, Curtis.

But I think you can squeeze

even more of the soul out of my music.

- We just made it danceable, that's all.

- What about the lyrics?

That rhythm takes all the feeling

out of the music!

This is what you've been asking for.

A totally new sound.

It's gonna be bigger than R&B

and rock and roll put together!

People are getting ready to boogie,

and when they do

they're gonna do it to our music.

Your music, Curtis.

It has nothing to do with me.

Come on, brother,

you know you're my main man.

Kiss my ass,

brother.

What the hell is going on now?

No, no!

The body was found at the

Tropicana Hotel in Hollywood.

Police say Mr Early had been dead

for over a day,

the apparent victim

of a heroin overdose.

The 43-year-old R&B singer was

recently released from his contract

at Rainbow Records.

She won't let me see him, Deena.

She won't let me see my Jimmy.

Plans are being made to fly the body

back to Detroit

where there will be a private burial.

What a thing.

Bad, bad scene.

Well, thanks for the drink.

Tell Lorrell I'll stop by tomorrow.

C.C., man, no matter what troubles

we had, you know, we're still a family.

That's the most important thing.

It's over, Curtis.

Oh, come on, man. Jimmy did this

to himself. You know that.

Michelle?

C.C. Can quit. You can't.

What's a wake?

It's when friends get together

and share their love for someone.

- Mama, why are you so slow?

- 'Cause I'm old, baby. I'm old.

Who are you?

Effie!

Effie!

- Who's that man?

- That's your uncle, little girl.

Effie! Sh*t.

Jimmy had so much life.

First time I met him

was right here in this club.

He wasn't "Thunder" Early then,

just little Jimmy.

- How old was that boy, Marty?

- I don't know. Probably 12.

Well, he had hands

the size of a fellow twice his age,

and he wasn't shy

about using them either.

Yeah, Jimmy was a real little sh*t.

- A real little sh*t.

- Sh*t.

I miss you, old friend

Can I hold you?

And though it's been a long time

Old friend

Do you mind?

There were so many things

I wish I had said

I meant to love you

But I hurt you instead

I've come here now

To make amends

Can I sit down beside you?

Can we be close again?

Effie?

Effie, I'm your brother.

At least you can say hello.

What gives you the nerve, C.C.,

coming here after all of these years?

All I can say is I was young

and I made a mistake.

I won't be used. Not by you,

not by anybody. Never again.

I promised you I would write you

a hit song. Let me do it for you now.

I don't need you.

No, Effie, I need you.

Effie, I have a song and it's good.

It's really good.

But only if you sing it.

You want all my love and my devotion

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote

Bill Condon

William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American screenwriter and director. He wrote and directed the films Gods and Monsters (1998), Kinsey (2004), and Dreamgirls (2006), wrote the screenplay for Chicago (2002), and directed the final two installments of the Twilight series (2011, 2012), and Beauty and the Beast (2017). Condon won an Academy Award as screenwriter for Gods and Monsters; he was also nominated for his screenplay for Chicago. His work in television includes directing pilot episodes for several series. more…

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