This over the top Hollywood musical began its life in 1988 as a humble satirical film by John Waters (who has a cameo role as a flasher in the opening scene). The cult film about big hair and big dreams became an award-winning Broadway musical in 2002. The musical continues to tour today, opening in London in October 2007. This upbeat Cinderella story has also – finally – made it to the big screen, and its themes of tolerance, acceptance and inclusion are just as relevant today. All three versions of Hairspray have used an unknown female in the lead role, and a male actor as her mother. Water’s original used Ricky Lake and Divine. The current film has Nikki Blonsky as the plus sized Tracy Turnblad and John Travolta returns to the genre that made him a star as the plus-plus sized mother Edna.
This campy musical oozes plenty of retro charm as it portrays a time of innocence that wasn’t so innocent. When Tracy finally wins a spot on the teenage dance television program ‘The Corny Collins Show’, racial discrimination takes centre stage. Amid the racial integration of the sixties, Baltimore steadfastly clings to its bigotry. Record storeowner Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) leads a march against axing the monthly special ‘Negro Day’ and Tracy joins the protest.
In this version of Hairspray, it’s the parents who steal the show. Even though Travolta feels the need to occasionally remind the audience that he is inside Edna’s fat suit, he does have the best lines. While Blonsky is a ball of energy, her dancing skills are outshone by those of the nimble ‘48 triple E’ Travolta, and the tender dance sequence with husband Wilbur Turnblad (Christopher Walken) is one of the best love scenes to come to the big screen for awhile. Walken even gets his 15 seconds of fame in drag. Michelle Pfeiffer makes a superbly vampy bitch/ out of control drama queen, and Queen Latifah is just wonderful as she floats through all the chaos with grace and soul.
(PG) Directed by Adam Shankman
