"Hairspray" Review

That's what Bob Dylan said back in the 60s, and it's also the underlying message of Hairspray, which is set in the same era. Christopher Walken's character even offers a pearl of wisdom along the same lines in the movie.

Based on a Broadway hit based on John Waters' cult film about racial equality in Baltimore, this musical follows the lovably plump Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) as she dreams of becoming a dancer on the hippest dance show on TV: The Corny Collins Show. Her weight poses to be a problem, of course, as well as her support of racial integration. The station manager, Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), is determined to keep her TV station blonde, thin, and most importantly, white.

Hairspray, despite being positively tacky and falling short on delivering the message it sought to deliver, is still a big blast of fun that almost never stops being cute. Imagine, if you will, the saddest, sappiest, most manipulating, violin-strumming, tear-jerking chick flick. Then picture the exact polar opposite. Well, that's Hairspray, the movie that is so gay (both meanings) that it's simply bursting with rainbows (both meanings).

John Waters is the king of championing the weird and the different, so maybe no offense should be taken in how the story lumps black people and fat people together as brothers-in-arms (the presence of drag queen Divine in the original, here replaced by John Travolta, also suggests queens' fellowship, even though their characters are supposed to be real women). Similarly iffy is how it takes white people to support their cause for black people to be heard. Yet the film is so earnest about it that it all seems good-natured and well-intentioned; and it's commendable for the effort even though the lecture never fully sinks in. Matter of fact, the one song that really misses the mark and stops the movie dead is a somber number by Queen Latifah during a march, which can almost be mistaken for a scene from another movie if it weren't for the tongue-in-cheek signs they carry like "Be a checkerboard" and "TV is black AND white!"

Back in 1999, the Academy of Motion Pictures rejected the proposed idea of an Oscar for Best Casting. There ought to be a special exception for Hairspray, because really, a big part of the movie's fun is how astoundingly well the cast plays up their familiar assets in each of their roles. The obvious mention, of course, is John Travolta as Mrs. Turnblad, who by all means delivers a terrible performance and can't even sing, but just the sight of him in drag is so ridiculous that you just go with it, especially when he breaks into his Saturday Night Fever moment, or when he's in romantic scenes with Christopher Walken. Similarly, Walken plays up his trademark mannerisms as a prankster who owns a gag toy store, to great comedic effect. "Baby! Come on..." he woos Travolta. I only have to type it for you to know how he says it. Michelle Pfeiffer also amps up her cattiness in the villainess role, and it's oh-so-good. The biggest credit, though, goes to Nikki Blonksy, without whom the movie could not have worked. True to her role, it's her doll-like plump lovability that makes her a heroinne worth rooting for.

The original Hairspray was surprisingly tame for a John Waters flick, and this one is even more neutered; but hey, that means it's safe to take the kids to see it. While it has adult themes and some cute sexual innuendos, it is for the most part as safe a musical can get, whatwith its overwhelming cheerfulness. It's even arguable that it's intended for the young cats anyway, given the aforementioned underlying theme. It's a tap-your-feet, clap-your-hand kind of movie, and it has the power to lift spirits and brighten faces.

Cross-posted from: JustPressPlay.net