This scenario wasn't exactly profound the first time around, but writer-director Condon so understands the emotional and technical demands of musicals (…) that he makes it feel fresh and alive. Plus he's added more context of the social upheaval of the 1960s and he's gotten terrific help, not only from his confident production team but also from the bottom half of his starring quartet. Although DREAMGIRLS is well-served by charismatic stars Jamie Foxx (…) and Beyoncé Knowles (…), much of the film's appeal comes from the surprisingly compelling work of costars Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson (…).

• http://www.latimes.com

If Jennifer Hudson never makes another movie, she will have earned a modest but honorable place in film history on the basis of her performance in DREAMGIRLS. Others in the cast - including Beyoncé Knowles, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy - do work they can be proud of, but Hudson turns DREAMGIRLS into an event, giving it an aura of significance and specialness. The magic all derives from her - though a nod must be given to director Bill Condon for recognizing what he had in this newcomer and for throwing her the picture.

• http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle

This euphoric adaptation of the hit Broadway backstage musical about the Dreams, an all-girl singing group loosely modeled on the Supremes, is an infectious experience of sequins and songs that lives up to the hype. Spanning the musical spectrum from the pre-Motown Sixties to the disco era in the late Seventies (…), DREAMGIRLS is a glittery, slick melodrama about how show business can cultivate egos and destroy friendships, all in the quest to be at the top of the heap. A great deal of the credit for the film’s success must go to screenwriter and director Condon, who (…) has fashioned what is best described as a dazzling jewel of a movie, both literally and metaphorically speaking.

• http://www.austinchronicle.com

(…) if DREAMGIRLS is disappointing, it is not for lack of effort by Mr. Condon or his cast, who do their best to combine the big, showy gestures of stage performance with the finer-grained demands of naturalistic screen acting. (…) the problem with DREAMGIRLS - and it is not a small one - lies in those songs, which are not just musically and lyrically pedestrian, but historically and idiomatically disastrous. (…) Ms. Knowles’s performance has been static and detached. In her limited work in movies, she has never seemed comfortable with acting, shying away from any emotional display that might compromise her steely, hieratic dignity. But when she sings, she is capable of warmth, vulnerability, even ferocity.

• http://www.nytimes.com

• http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

• http://nymag.com