Hairspray

Starring: John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Nikki Blonsky

Directed by: Adam Shankman

RS: 3.5of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3.5of 4 Stars

2007 New Line Cinema All Movies

Watch Peter Travers' reviews of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Hairspray.

It's a gay thing. That seems to be the excuse most guys use to avoid musicals. Chicago? Gay. Dreamgirls? Supergay. Phantom of the Opera? Don't start. No way is Hairspray going to turn the dudes brokeback. For starters, it stars John Travolta in a dress. But cut it some slack, and the movie version of the still-running Broadway hit is a plus-size bundle of fun, despite herky-jerky pacing. It helps that Leslie Dixon's screenplay stays in tune with the source material, the 1988 movie that gave John Waters -- the sultan of sleaze -- his first mainstream hit. Set in the racially divided Baltimore of 1962, the Waters film suggests that the closest a black teenager could get to cultural integration was "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, a local whiter-than-white American Bandstand. It's up to Tracy Turnblad, the chubby teen daughter of big mama Edna, played by Divine in all his 300-pound drag-queen glory, to end segregation.

Despite the PG rating, Waters kept the story cannily subversive. Broadway, with Harvey Fierstein stepping into Edna's muumuus, softened the edges. And Hollywood, with Travolta wearing a fat suit and a Miss Piggy smile, pours on the sugar coating. Still, Hairspray earns knockout status for its humor, heart and high spirits. As Tracy, trumpet-tonsiled newcomer Nikki Blonsky is a dynamo. Not only does she want to storm the barricades erected against race and flab by TV station manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer, licking every delicious drop of the role's sexy villainy), Tracy is determined to dance on TV with dreamboat Linc Larkin (Zac Efron of High School Musical), even though Amber (Brittany Snow), Velma's blond bee-yatch of a daughter, has her initials on Linc's tight ass. Tracy finds inspiration at school detention (for "inappropriate hair height") when the black kids teach her hot dance moves that catch the eye of Corny (James Marsden, Cyclops from the X-Men films, is a revelation as a song-and-dance man). When Tracy's BFF Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) falls hard for a black boy, Seaweed (the megatalented Elijah Kelley), her racist mom (the priceless Allison Janney) goes ballistic. Seaweed's mom, record-shop owner Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) won't stand in the way of teen romance. But civil rights are another thing, and Latifah blows the roof off with the rousing anthem "I Know Where I've Been."

Are you getting all this? Travolta makes it easy, giving Edna a butterball sweetness she never had in previous incarnations. Instead of glib laughs, he plays her for real. And when Edna finally leaves her apartment after years of fat-shame exile, watch out. Travolta is hot stuff. And Christopher Walken excels as Edna's adoring husband, Wilbur. When he looks at his woman, it's with total love. As they duet and dance to "You're Timeless to Me," this pure pow of a musical finds its much-needed grace notes.

The bounce in the score, by composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman, lifts the movie over the rough spots, i.e., misfired jokes, stagey camera work and a relentless perkiness that suggests director Adam Shankman spiked the cast with Red Bull. I've never been a fan of Shankman. (The Pacifier -- yuck!) But he spins this one with becoming skill, especially the dances, which benefit from his experience as a choreographer. It's hard to resist the film's exuberance. By the big finale, even homophobes will tap their feet. OK, maybe not. But the less close-minded are sure to respond. Hairspray has a beat. And you sure can dance to it.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Jul 18, 2007)

Your Turn

Give us your review of
Hairspray

Review 1 of 7

4of 4 Stars

If you see only one movie this summer go see "Hairspray!" The best movie of the summer! John Travolta gives an iconic performance of a lifetime. He should win an Oscar for this one.

Aug 28, 2007 16:21:35

Review 2 of 7

4of 4 Stars

Loved every second of it. Could this movie be this generation's "Grease"?? Not sure but I'm just sayin...

Aug 8, 2007 07:36:41

Review 3 of 7

4of 4 Stars

Loved every minute of it, once I got over thinking that JT was a Klump....

Jul 30, 2007 11:11:48

Review 4 of 7

4of 4 Stars

This movie was simply... Fun. I am a fan of the original and I wasn't sure how (or why) they would "remake" it. I enjoy musicals (and my kids enjoy Zac Efron) so I took them to see Hairspray in a crowded theater on opening day. It was so much fun to see a movie with my 8 and 12 year olds that we all could enjoy. The story was good, the music was upbeat and catchy and the dancing was great. Granted, John Travolta was a bit distracting at first but, he made a sweet Edna. Queen Latifah was wonderful and shows off her incredible voice again and the talented younger cast had so much energy people were dancing along in their seats. No, this is not a deep, make you think, dramatically change the world movie but it is FUN and will leave you with a smile on your face and maybe a spring in your step.

Jul 25, 2007 17:57:35

Review 5 of 7

1of 4 Stars

Turning one of the best John Waters' movies into a broadway musical? I can deal with that. But turning it into some Tiger Beat, High School Musical knock off? Inexcusable. Travolta pulls off Edna like Johnny Knoxville in a 'Barney the Dinosaur' costume. This is a disaster. Worst off the glory of John Waters's original 1988 film is that it equates the homosexual civil rights movement with the black civil rights movement of the sixties. By getting Danny Zuko (even if Waters sent him a personal letter asking him to do so) to fill the shoes of Divine is worse than a cop-out or a sellout-- and it equates the homosexual civil rights movement with hollywood hypocrisy. It's utter fucking crap. I don't need to be an open minded straight guy to enjoy this movie. If anything I'd need a stalwart appreciation of major studio unjustfully ironing out any resonance of grit, controversy, and taste out of what could have been a tasteful blessed remake.

Jul 24, 2007 11:02:10

Review 6 of 7

3of 4 Stars

Ironically, I really wanted to see this show when it was playing
near me, and just completely missed it and still kick myself
over it from time to time. The irony comes in when I had
pretty much no interest whatsoever in this film and was
practically dragged to it by my girlfriend. In the end, I'm
grateful she did. This movie is just sheer pleasure from start
to finish. Ridiculously, I left this movie with the same feeling
of satisfaction that I got when leaving the latest Die Hard film.
Likely more than that, though, being that this one has a good
bit more substance to it.
Anyway, the music is fantastic, and so is the choreography.
Do your best to try and catch the lyrics while you watch the
spectacle before you as it can be just as rewarding. The cast,
as Peter said, is fantastic. And what it all really boils down to
is enjoying John Travolta support others on the dance floor as
he hams it up in a fat suit.
Check this one out. You'll feel great afterward.

Jul 21, 2007 07:06:26

Review 7 of 7

4of 4 Stars

Hairspray may be in tough against this summer's onslaught of blockbusters, but it deserves your attention. It is simply the best movie musical in a decade [and no, I didn't get in to see it for free]! Adam Shankman's direction may take advantage of that Hollywood veneer I mentioned earlier, but it doesn't use it to obscure Waters' subversive heart. The result is a film that is a giddy delight with a heaping helping of Baltimore soul.

Ya gotta love that!

http://www.eclipsemagazine.com/hairspray_all_fluff_and_sugar_world_can_t_hide_its

Jul 20, 2007 18:47:03

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