Review
Hairspray
- Director
- Adam Shankman
- Year
- 2007
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho
- Review date
- Thursday, August 30, 2007
The story is set in Baltimore during the 60s and stars Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a chubby girl who dreams of joining “The Corny Collins Show”, a local teen dance TV show that would never cast her, since it’s full of prejudice. Its producer, Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), wouldn’t care that Tracy is actually talented, because she wants only white beauties on the show (except on “Negro Day” of course), and does everything to make her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow) shine on top of everyone else. Velma is a former local entertainment queen, and she still shines more than anyone around. So does Pfeiffer: she’s prettier than ever, more energetic, and full of punch, she’s got it! Brittany Snow is unsympathetic and rather opaque, as required by the role, and she’s pretty good at it.
But Tracy has got it, and everybody who meets her knows it. Her mother Edna (John Travolta), however, doesn’t quite believe it’s possible. She discourages her daughter from having such dreams, while her husband Wilbur (Christopher Walken) does exactly the opposite. Tracy is a happy girl who sings along to the tunes of everyday life in Baltimore, and she just can’t be dispirited. When she meets a bunch of Negro guys in detention at school, and learns to dance like them, she’s spotted by Link Larkin (Zac Efron), her crush who’s both in school and on the TV show, who recommends her to Corny himself (James Marsden), and soon she’s on the show!
You have to see Travolta to believe him. He’s no Divine, the famous transvestite who played Edna in the original film, but his approach to the role is completely different: he plays it straight, but Edna is hilarious, so he’s hilarious without exaggerating. Every expression on “her” face, every whine, every mood, it’s all very enjoyable, sometimes causing top-belly laughs. Travolta shines as ever, and dances and sings as ever, and he’s probably the best the film has to offer.
But that’s a very bold statement. This very colorful film has enjoyable music to spare, spectacular dance numbers, and many good performances. The songs are all great, there’s not a dull one, including “Good Morning Baltimore”, “I Can Hear the Bells”, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and the new ones including “The New Girl in Town”. There’s great work done with the songs by Marc Shaiman (music) with lyrics by himself and Scott Wittman. Shaiman also composed the film’s score. David Gropman’s production design is top-notch, with outstanding art direction by Dennis Davenport and set decoration by Gordon Sim. Rita Ryack’s costumes are well-worth praising. Makeup work is also marvelous.
Newcomer Blonsky is a real find; she’s pretty, she’s chubby, she sings great, she’s got a strong presence, she’s a star. Along the way is Amanda Bynes as her best friend Penny who falls in love with African American Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) much to her uptight mother’s (Allison Janney) dismay. It’s all in good fun. Bynes is hotter than hot. Oh baby suck that lolli.
You gotta fall too much in love with the songs and overall mood to overlook the fact that the plot is terribly thin. Antagonism is nearly inexistent (not to say Michelle Pfeiffer doesn’t do a spectacular job with the little material she’s got) and everything just shines and moves towards the positive all the time. I found it boring midway through, but music kept helping to the very end. The climax, however, also climaxed the implausible. It’s a messy and totally unbelievable dance number where most characters are involved, and even a resolution involving Seaweed’s sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks) stretches the credibility. Every sequence involving Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), Seaweed and Little Inez’s mother, seems out of place, despite the fact that Latifah shines more than ever. There are many awkward moments, to be perfectly honest. Editor Michael Tronick, who does a good job in general, misses terribly sometimes, particularly when he mixes a quiet sequence involving Pfeiffer and a musical one involving Latifah. Doesn’t work.
The impressive cast also includes hilarious Jerry Stiller and some cameos, the most notable being Waters’ as a flasher in the street.
Quite a show!
“Big ain’t the problem in this family, Wilbur.”
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Other reviews of Hairspray (2007): Morris
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