“‘And I Am Telling You,’ for all the defiance of its lyric and the triumphal swell of its orchestration, is an anthem of impotence, a proud woman’s protest in the face of humiliation and defeat. Like it or not, Effie is going. She has no choice in the matter. But it’s not often you go to the movies and see a big-boned, sexually assertive, self-confident black woman — not played for laughs or impersonated by a male comedian in drag — holding the middle of the screen. And when was the last time you saw a first-time film actress upstage an Oscar winner, a pop diva and a movie star of long standing? Jennifer Hudson is not going anywhere. She has arrived.” — N.Y. Times critic A.O. Scott in his otherwise lukewarm review of Dreamgirls.
