Where Boys Fear To Tread *

"Why are we the only guys here?" the boy asked me."Because it's a girly film," I answered.

I wasn't too enamoured when I agreed to go to the cinema on the grounds of family unity and all that and being told we were going to see Dreamgirls.

It did turn out to be a pleasant surprise and, in fact, the only girly in the party (my ex and the boy's mum) liked it the least. It looked great, script not too bad, acting very good (Eddie Murphy can act, I am once again reminded) and, of course, the music isn't too bad either. I was particularly blown away by Jennifer Hudson when her character gets kicked out the band and dumped by her lover/manager and she sings a defiant but heartbreaking vow to stay with the band and her lover. Her performance almost verges on the overdramatic but somehow she manages to avoid that. What a pair of lungs she has! I'd never heard of her before so had to do a google on her when I returned home and found she was the star who didn't win American Idol a few years back which prompted Elton John to denounce the judges as racist. She obviously didn't really need to win a reality TV show to make her mark on the world as her acting and voice have already won her a BAFTA and she's a good bet to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. And I read that she put 20 pounds on to play the part in Dreamgirls, which I'm sure many young aspiring actors would not, err dream, of doing.

Dreamgirls - not a great film but an entertaining one to look out for on DVD or TV. It could have done with being a bit shorter, also!

Oh, and we weren't the only males in this excellent cinema. There were two blokes sitting in front of us, kissing and cuddling and singing along to some of the songs - I think they may have been gay!

*Smashing Pumpkins