John Travolta as Edna Turnblad in HAIRSPRAY (2007).
© New Line Cinema
Mania Grade: A-
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG
Stars: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley
Writer: Leslie Dixon, based on the stage musical written by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan, based on the film written by John Waters
Director: Adam Shankman
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG
Stars: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley
Writer: Leslie Dixon, based on the stage musical written by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan, based on the film written by John Waters
Director: Adam Shankman
Distributor: New Line Cinema
HAIRSPRAY
By: Abbie BernsteinReview Date: Friday, July 20, 2007
This reviewer is not a pushover for movie musicals – don’t lynch me, but not only didn’t I like The Producers, I didn’t like Grease. However, Hairspray – which, like The Producers, has the pedigree of being a non-musical film comedy transformed into a hit Broadway show reconceived for the big screen with song – is utterly winning. Director Adam Shankman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon, working from the stage musical book by Mark O’Donnell & Thomas Meehan, who in turn based their work on the movie written and directed by John Waters – Marc Shaiman wrote the music and collaborated with Scott Wittman on the lyrics for both the Broadway and new film versions – avoid confusing innocence with idiocy. There are a lot of big themes running through the film, but they’re handled with a kind of deft exuberance that leaves you laughing breathless in the wake of the characters’ verve and joy, rather than laughing at their stupidity.
We’re in 1963 Baltimore, where white teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is, like most of the kids in town, crazy about the afternoon TV dance craze, The Corny Collins Show. Nikki is constantly getting put in detention, usually because of things like “inappropriate hair height,” but this is fine with her, as it allows her to pick up cool dance moves from black fellow detainees, some of whom are regulars on the once-monthly Collins Show “Negro Day.” Tracy would love to see her favorite show integrated – more, she’d love to be a dancer on the Corny show herself. Tracy gets her chance when there are auditions for an open spot on the show, but station manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) hates heavy people (Tracy is large) almost as much as she hates suggestive dance moves and integrationists. Nikki is getting conflicting messages at home – Mom Edna (John Travolta) is afraid Nikki will have her dreams crushed, but dad Wilbur tells Tracy to “go for it.” Tracy starts to realize that the black friends she so admires are being squelched creatively (and in other ways), and joins a protest march – which causes her to become a wanted fugitive.
This is all handled with the kind of high spirits normally associated with the late ‘50s/early ‘60s, outlining the feel of the era without feeling either too preachy or too nonchalant – points are made in the flow of events, rather than with declamations. Tracy’s opening embrace of her hometown as Blonsky sings “Good Morning, Baltimore” is delighted by everything around her – the people, the shops, the neighborhood flasher (played in a cameo by Waters, of course). She is a perfect musical comedy heroine – unpretentious yet unbreakable. Blonsky has a huge, soaring voice and impressive dance moves, along with an upbeat attitude that makes Nikki a joyous focal point.
For those late to the party wondering why Travolta is playing Nikki’s (or anybody’s) mother, it should be known that Edna has always been played by a man – the late Divine in the original Waters film and Harvey Fierstein in the original Broadway production. Travolta, in prosthetics and a body suit, dives into Edna’s fussy vulnerability with gusto, and Walken gives Wilbur a spacey warmth, genial and fleet of foot (a dance number reminds us that Walken has in his day been a song and dance man). Marsden as show host Corny Collins seems at home as a preening yet decent teen idol, Pfeiffer seems to have a blast as the vampy, vicious Velma and Amanda Bynes is a little reminiscent of P.J. Soles (of Halloween and Hollywood High School) as Tracy’s sheltered but blossoming best friend. Elijah Kelley has pizzazz as young dancer Seaweed, while Queen Latifah has dignity (if not the implied rapid speech) of Seaweed’s mother, deejay Motormouth Maybelle.
Director Shankman has spent years as a choreographer (he may be best known to TV viewers for his work on the musical episode of Buffy), and his experience with the form pays off here. He knows not only how to move his dancers but where to put the camera for best effect, so that there’s of kinetic energy in sync with the song score, rather than just that “movement goes here” sense that some film musicals bring to the dance numbers. He also modulates the tone really well, making scenes amusing without either hitting them too hard or making them overly camp. Unlike a lot of filmmakers referring back to the ‘50s/’60s in comedic terms, Shankman, Dixon, Shaiman and Wittman love their characters – they don’t feel superior to them and want us to feel part of the action, not above it. Hairspray is deliciously inclusive, not only within its storyline, but with its audience. It’s something to celebrate.
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Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to Hairspray. I really enjoy the score and can't wait to see how it looks on the big screen.