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(Photo: David James/Paramount
Pictures)
They say that "the devil is in the
details." Whenever Curtis Taylor, Jr., looks at them -- "them" being
the likes of Effie White, James Early and Deena Jones (and the movie-going
audience) -- they in turn see the devil staring them right in the face.
And as you watch Jamie Foxx play this slippery car dealer-turned music
manager and producer of James "Thunder" Early and The Dreamettes, you can't
help but despise him. Which means of course that Foxx, the 2005
Academy Awards' Best Actor winner, has done his job very well. Mr.
Foxx had just finished filming "Miami Vice" in late 2005, several months
after his Oscar triumph for "Ray" (2004). He went into "Dreamgirls"
according to published reports, with some trepidation -- not about whether
he could ace the slippery snake-oil charm and ice-coldness of Curtis Taylor
-- but whether he would be adequately compensated for the role as a
newly-minted Oscar winner. The negotiations went, and within short
order, Foxx got the green light that money of an actor of his stature
commanded, and soon after that in early January 2006, it was off to work
with "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon for several months.
Curtis Taylor has money and power and
the trust of the three ladies (aka The Dreams). At first however, he
is an unpolished stone still trying to gather steam as he prepares to carve
out a music empire for himself. As Mr. Foxx explains, "Curtis is a
rough-edged kind of guy who is trying to get in to the music business.
He just wishes that he could have sung better, could have written better
music, could have played some type of instrument, but he can't." You
get a sense that Foxx is channeling the frustration of his character's past
shortcomings as he climbs the ladder of deviousness and slick-trickery.
Curtis Taylor is the classic villain and does what he has to to succeed.
Still, Foxx declares that the anything-goes-risk-it-at-all costs attitude of
Curtis " . . . comes with a curse for [the character] -- on some level he
wishes it was him out there. He's working every angle until he finds
an opening."
As Curtis, Foxx doesn't just find an
opening. He tears right through, leaving an indelible mark on both the
characters around him in "Dreamgirls", as well as the film's audience.
The director however, does not see Curtis as all bad, by any stretch of the
imagination. "I think of Curtis as someone who is addicted to dreams .
. . as soon as he accomplishes one thing, he's on to the next one."
The truth about Curtis is that he also does have a warmer side to him.
When he sings to Deena the song "When I First Saw You", all of those things
come out -- which were not previously -- or at least so obviously -- on
display.
Foxx's career has moved from films
like "Booty Call" to films like "Any Given Sunday", "Redemption" (the cable
television film), "Ali", and "Collateral". Along the way he has become
A-list quality, in a relatively short time. He has credited both Al
Pacino and Oliver Stone for showing him the craft of acting and conveying to
him the seriousness of performing on film. Pacino and Stone starred in
and directed "Sunday" respectively, with Foxx giving a highly-commended
performance as brash upstart quarterback Willie Beamon. The film,
which was released in 1999, also starred Cameron Diaz.
Jamie Foxx continues to win raves for
his work. He diversifies his acting roles -- lead and supporting roles
-- and mixes things up a great deal. He has received lots of advice
from Denzel Washington, someone that actors would obviously listen to and
take seriously. Mr. Washington's credentials need no mention, and
prior to Foxx's Oscar win, he advised Mr. Foxx to keep striding in the right
direction and walk tall, as people were watching him.
And once again, Foxx walks tall in "Dreamgirls",
even if he is "steppin' to the bad side."
-- Omar P.L. Moore
BEYONCE
EDDIE MURPHY
JENNIFER HUDSON
DANNY GLOVER
originally published on December 12, 2006