"Hairspray"
Review by Marc Brienel
- PlanetOut.com
"Welcome to the '60s!" a big, bright musical number from the new "Hairspray" invites us. Welcome to a time when Americans dreamed big, sang big and wore their hair very, very big. All the numbers in "Hairspray" are as big as the beehive bouffants the dancers wear, and as much fun as a tiki luau at Rock Hudson's swimming pool, circa 1962. Summer movies don't come any sunnier.
"Hairspray" the movie musical revives the 1988 camp classic by gay film god John Waters. A Broadway version of "Hairspray" won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2003. Now it's back on the big screen with the original John Waters story, the Tony-winning Broadway score by gay partners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (they famously kissed on national TV when they accepted their prize) and a shiny new cast of Hollywood stars. Unlike last year's disapointing "The Producers," this new creation not only stands up to its predecessors, in some ways it surpasses them.
For those who just came out of the closet, "Hairspray" is the fairy-tale story of Tracy Turnblad, an endearingly perky John F. Kennedy-era teeny-bopper whose love of Baltimore and early '60s dance changes the lives of everyone around her. Tracy overcomes racism, sexism, conformity and even McCarthyism to open her neighbors' eyes to a groovy Technicolor world of social liberation and style.
Tracy (played by irrestible newcomer Nikki Blonsky) doesn't fit the conventional "leading lady" image of 1962 (nor of 2007, for that matter). She's too short, too heavy and too lower-middle-class. On the outside, that is. Inside she has the grace of Audrey Hepburn, the spunkiness of Gidget and the fierce dancing rhythm of soul godfather James Brown. Best of all, Tracy is congenitally oblivious to a chorus of family, friends and foes alike who warn her not to dream so big lest she make a laughingstock of herself. Guess who gets the last laugh.
Tracy shares the screen happily with an absolutely fabulous ensemble cast. There's harried homemaker Edna Turnblad, a character invented by legendary drag queen Divine and played very differently here -- charmingly so -- by John Travolta (more on him later). Tweener heartthrob Zac Efron of Disney Channel's "High School Musical" makes girls swoon again as crooner Link Larkin. Fellow dream teen Elijah Kelly brings even more charisma to his role as Seaweed, the sweet young dancing machine who catches the eye of Tracy's adorable best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes).
Penny's Bible-thumper mother, Prudy Pingleton, is a hilarious cartoon in the hands of the always-sublime Allison Janney. Queen Latifah is welcome as ever, here combining civil-rights-earth-mother with raucous Motown DJ Motormouth Maybelle. Michelle Pfeiffer steals her every scene as Velma Von Tussle, a suburban sexpot in '60s glamour gowns that would make Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" jealous, and who'll stop at nothing to see her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow, cleverly borrowed from NBC's similar "American Dreams") named Miss Teenage Hairspray in a snowy TV wonderland of pastel-tinted Eisenhower-era segregation that is the Von Tussles' personal domain.
The real action takes place on a local "American Bandstand"-style TV show, Tracy's whole reason for living until she learns that life is about more than just dancing a great Mashed Potato. James Marsden (of "X-Men") plays the slick but good-hearted host in the shiny green-and-blue cocktail jackets, singing and dancing sensationally. "The Corny Collins Show" has just one "Negro Day" a month, hosted by Motormouth Maybelle, and otherwise blacks are banned from the airwaves. Velma likes it that way, and she's the station manager. Just about everyone else wants to integrate, for reasons that become obvious whenever the African-American characters appear on screen. They're the hottest dancers and have the most charming personalities, let alone the basic issue of equality.
"Hairspray" the movie musical inevitably invites comparisons to the original movie and Broadway musical. First things first: John Travolta is no Divine, nor is he Harvey Fierstein (who won a Best Musical Actor Tony as Edna Turnblad). He looks a bit like Miss Piggy in all his rubber prosthetics. Yet Travolta brings some very welcome qualities to the role: He's a talented actor. He's a great dancer. He can really sing. He has charisma to burn. And Travolta gives himself to this role so completely that even though you remember who's under that 75 pounds of latex, a fully realized character still comes out on top. Travolta has said in interviews that he chose to play Edna Turnblad as a "real woman" rather than a man in drag: That's a choice that works, too, much as we all miss Divine.
Cinematically, this version really satisfies. Elements of both the stage play and the original film are nicely incorporated, with some scenes smartly reworked in service to the new, blended medium. You always feel as though you're outside in the real world, not inside a theater (again, as in "The Producers"), and constantly moving forward fast. Director-choreographer Adam Shankman was a great choice to stage an energetic, dance-fueled musical like this. Shankman previously choreographed such unlikely showcases as the spectacular animated feature "Anastasia" and a wonderful musical episode of TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Marc Shaiman also knows what he's doing: He previously wrote the music for "In & Out," "The First Wives Club," "Down With Love" and many other camp classics.
This latest incarnation of "Hairspray" perfectly balances fantasy and reality. "Good Morning Baltimore," the opening number, says it all: Tracy dances through the streets of her grimy hometown, blissed-out by girl-group music and youthful optimism, serenading the rats and a flasher (John Waters in the perfect cameo), saluting a drunken "bum on his barroom stool," and riding to school atop an oozing green garbage truck with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eye. It's magical.
