Listen
In Dreamgirls, "Listen"'s story is inspirational: a girl overcoming odds to become a woman, a pop star puppet animating herself in defiance of the mastermind producer who thinks he created her. But outside of its original context-- in a scene focused squarely on Beyoncé's character singing while staring down her soon-to-be-former man behind the boards-- the opening piano chords, soft cymbal rolls, and her carefully hushed vocals make her sound about as inspired as typical Disney soundtrack fare.
It’s not until the drums come in and she picks up the volume that Beyoncé hits her stride, and when she belts out the chorus, the inspiration is real, tangible, and contagious. If the song’s dynamics are supposed to parallel the character’s own rise in confidence, it works better in theory than in execution, but by the time she reaches the song's climax, Beyoncé is climbing the scale with an intensity that matches the cymbal-crashing drama around her. That's when "Listen" nears "I Will Always Love You" heights of singing-in-the-shower perfection. It's a moment that belongs in a musical-- a shame it's in such a disappointing one.
Though the original video is a forgettable montage of movie clips, the second is less cheesy, and comes closer to capturing the power of the original scene. It features the unhinged look Beyoncé perfected in the "Ring the Alarm" video. Someone give her a made-for-TV movie already.
Version 1:
Version 2: