The Anatomy of a Snub

Jan. 25, 2007 — -- In Hollywood, it's the most eagerly awaited wake-up call of the year: Oscar nomination morning.

On Tuesday, "Dreamgirls" was called eight times -- the most nominations of any film this year, including best supporting actor nods for two of its stars, Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson.

So everyone must have been thrilled over at Paramount, the studio behind "Dreamgirls," right?

Not completely. Two of the biggest nominations eluded the film: no best director nomination for Bill Condon, and, most startling of all, no nod for best picture.

"It's the first time ever that a film with the most nominations did not get a nomination for best picture," said Jill Bernstein, senior editor of Entertainment Weekly.

Now the second-guessing has begun: Was "Dreamgirls" too musical? Or was the whole just not equal to the sum of its parts?

"Nightline" asked major figures from three important film industry constituencies -- a critic, an entertainment editor and a consummate insider -- to examine the decision.

One prevailing theory is the simplest: Murphy and Hudson were great, as were the songs and the costumes. The promotional tour was to die for, but the movie itself just wasn't that great.

"'Dreamgirls' was a spectacular pedestal, but the thing that was on it was distinctly mediocre," said David Edelstein, the film critic at New York magazine.

"It was supposed to document this magnificent period and transformation in American culture when African-Americans at last made it into mainstream culture. The music didn't give you any sense of how it possibly could," Edelstein said.

"The academy as a group chose five wonderful films. Maybe it came in No. 6," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- better known as the Academy in Academy Awards.

Bernstein said that "Dreamgirls" may have been hurt by the nomination scoring system, which awards more points to voters' top choices than to their third or fourth favorite.