British critics have some idea why Dreamgirls was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination at this month’s Academy Awards-it sucks.

:Bill Condon’s brash, flashy Dreamgirls has received eight Oscar nominations, but none of them for Best Picture. The reason is simple: despite two outstanding performances and dazzling production values, it isn’t much good,” says Daily Mail reviewer Chris Tookey.

…”It’s no wonder that the stage show never made it to our West End, or that it has taken 25 years to reach the screen.

Not only is the book jerky and the characters cardboard, the music is uninspired and the lyrics -however passionately they are sung – banal.

“…The script is generic, rags-to-riches stuff, the critic goes on. Ill-served by a screenplay that doesn’t give her much to work with, Beyonce Knowles as the Ross character looks beautiful but acts weakly, and Jamie Foxx, usually a powerhouse, is bland and uncomfortable as their under-written manager. ”

Similar to Americans, the Brits are standing in acclaim over the stirring supporting performances:

“The movie is stolen by two supporting performers. Newcomer Jennifer Hudson (an American Idol contestant) has the show’s plum role as a difficult, self-destructive diva who is fired from the group and has the best number (And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going).”

“Even better – and an even more likely Oscar-winner – is Eddie Murphy, who’s often a lazy performer but here reminds us of what a mercurial talent he is by playing the doomed James ‘Thunder’ Early, a James Brown-style soul singer who sells out to commercialism and finds solace in drugs.”