Right well first I have to say I didn't know anything about this film, I wasn't familiar with the stage show so forgive me for stating the obvious. The story is a thinly disguised telling of the rise of The Supremes and in particular the ousting of the true talent (the Florence Ballard character) and the promotion of the lesser but more public-friendly face (the Diana Ros character). Eddie Murphy does a great job as a kind of Marvin gaye/James Brown hybrid.
The copy I watched was a cam (filmed from the screen using a video camera) and usually these\are only average quality but the picture\was pretty good, the sound was muffled for some of the dialogue but the songs were excellent quality. The bonus about it being a cam this time though was the amazing reaction of the audience. To begin, you could hear mild applause after a song ended - unusual in itself - but when Jennifer Hudson performed what must surely be an oscar winning performance of And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going, it sounded as if the entire audience was giving it a standing ovation...it was if they were watching a live concert and not a movie.
I last saw Jennifer Hudson being unjustly eliminated from American Idol way too early about 3 years ago. She proves with this film that she is an absolute star and gives an awesome performance as Effie White, the girl kicked out of the group for being unreliable, overweight and moody (reasons for this become apparent).
I loved the recreation of the early 60's Detroit music and recording scene and the brilliant spoofing of various Supremes album covers and TV appearances...there's also an hilarious Jackson 5 parody which got a big laugh from the audience.
At the end of the day, I wasn't keen on a lot of the songs but the performances and choreography was fantastic throughout. I'd say definitely try to see this film if you get the chance, it'll make you laugh and possibly make you cry, like it did me. Though I had drunk half a bottle of bourbon by the end of the film. And why not.