Eddie Murphy is the best reason to see this otherwise overblown, narratively clunky adaptation of the Broadway musical. As a James Brown-type singer, Murphy is more alive than he’s been in years. That familiar gleam in his eye shines – for the first time in a long time –over something other than the easy money of another gaseous kiddie comedy. Also with Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, who held a single note until Academy voters submitted and gave her an Oscar.
