John Waters’ 1988 comedy (which was also turned into a Tony Award winning Broadway musical) gets a timely colour and cut for a new generation of fans in Adam Shankman’s lively big screen romp.
High school fatty Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) may be a bit of a pie slotter but boy, she sure can dance. So when the “Corny Collins Show” (a daytime TV danceathon in 60s Baltimore) holds open auditions for new talent our Trace decides to give it a whirl.
After some help from her buddy “Seaweed” (Kelly) she eventually makes it onto the show but soon makes enemies with bitchy station manager Velma Von Tussle (Pfeiffer) and her beauty queen daughter Amber (Snow), a dastardly duo who hate fat kids nearly as much as they do “negroes”.
And so begins the battle for the prestigious Miss Teenage Hairspray gong, a title that madame Tussle has held for the last three years and isn’t about to give up without a fight.
They say:
Empire: “Offering plenty of body and a lot of lift, Hairspray gels kitsch styling with show stopping tunes to mould a memorable musical.”
Total Film: “It’s short on the subversive vibe of John Waters’ version, but if catchy tunes and a cast having a blast are all you’re after, this will leave a smile.”
Channel 4: “Waters' trashy sensibility combines with some good old fashioned Broadway pizzazz to create an irresistible, deliciously subversive entertainment.”
We say:
A musical starring John Travolta in a fat suit dressed up as a woman? Usually you would have to err... drag us to the cinema kicking and screaming to watch this sort of thing, but Hairspray is a surprisingly enjoyable 60s pastiche with plenty of colourful highlights and full bodied performances (apologies, no more hair puns from here on in, promise).
Dancer turned director Adam “The Wedding Planner” Shankman choreographs the action with enthusiastic flair, avoiding the mistakes made in the 2005 The Producers rehash (another comedy/ stageshow/ big screen musical) that basically saw the camera plonked in row F and left to record the action.
Equally, the tunes (from composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) are vastly superior to this year’s other notable big screen musical, Dreamgirls, with “Miss Baltimore Crabs” and the opening “Good Morning Baltimore” the pick of the bunch.
Of the cast, Blonsky makes a real impression in her first full size, literally, role and it’s great to see Pfeiffer – who still looks great at 49 - back after five years in self imposed exile.
Walken is on typically energetic form too as Tracy’s fatty loving Dad and Travolta’s return to the musical genre after nearly 30 years is long overdue - although why someone who is in severe danger of being harpooned every time he goes swimming would need a fat suit is beyond us.
Admittedly, there is less satirical bite and social critique than in John Waters’ original, and screenwriter Leslie “Mrs. Doubtfire” Dixon’s multi stranded plot makes for an overly crammed finale.
However, as far as musicals go, Hairspray is a cut above (D'oh!) the norm and as much as you may pretend you hate it, a Friday night outing to the cinema with the missus shouldn’t be an all together horrible experience.
Extras:
Aside from a few deleted scenes and documentaries, the stand out feature here is, err, a singalong. Throw in a 12 pack of Stella and we're game for anything.
RELEASED
19 Nov 2007
CAST
John Travolta
Michelle Pfeiffer
Nikki Blonsky
Zac Efron
Amanda Bynes
James Marsden
Christopher Walken
Queen Latifah
Allison Janney
Elijah Kelly
Brittany Snow
DIRECTOR
Adam Shankman
TIME
107 mins
POSTED...
Sat 21 Jul 2007 at 9:51am
