Songwriters Henry Krieger and Willie Reale devised "Patience" for the musical's 2006 movie adaptation, which also featured the title Dreamgirls.
In a scene set in 1973, the song comes into being after Early seeks to develop his public image while being under the thumb of manipulative, shady record business figure Curtis Taylor, Jr. (played by Jamie Foxx).
All three Dreamgirls songs (as well as the piece "Our Town" that Randy Newman penned for Cars) lost the Oscar to "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge, which the songwriter created for An Inconvenient Truth.
[1] At the 2007 Academy Awards ceremony, "Patience" was performed by Rose and Robinson along with a gospel choir and their co-stars Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson.
Film critics who viewed the song's creation and use in Dreamgirls as a highlight of the movie include Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor and David Rooney of Variety.