Showered with Oscar nominations and winner of the best musical Golden Globe, this backstage drama from Chicago screenwriter Bill Condon fulfils glamour and glitz expectations in spades. Jennifer Hudson excels as the lead singer of 1960s backing group the Dreamettes, who is sidelined by their new manager, Jamie Foxx, when he decides to promote Beyoncé Knowles to head up the trio. Plot sound familiar? It is, of course, the thinly disguised story of the rise to fame and fortune of Motown supergroup Diana Ross and the Supremes, with Beyoncé as "Deena Jones", the statuesquely striking backing singer who catches Foxx's eye, and American Idol contestant Hudson, a deserved winner of both the Oscar and Golden Globe for best supporting actress, as the rejected and dejected Effie White (think Florence Ballard). Although uplifting and moving by turns, the tale - based on the hit Broadway musical - too closely follows its real-life equivalent to make any sense as fiction. And, for fans of the Supremes, the admittedly rousing score is simply a frustration and even slows the action in places. However, keeping pace with Hudson, Eddie Murphy (another Golden Globe winner) is a revelation as a James Brown-style showman, revealing a dramatic depth and maturity previously only hinted at.

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.