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Click Here For Our Interview with Nikki Blonsky

Hairspray

So it turns out you really Can't stop the beat — Hairspray is a non-stop musical fun fest that will have you wishing you were a better dancer! As I left the screening I was both cursing my two left feet and hoping that they'd be giving us the soundtrack at the junket so I could at least sing along next time.

(Speaking of which, WE are actually giving away the soundtrack too, check it out here if you'd like to enter.)

My reviews lately have been oddly definite in my opinions which doesn't happen often, but going from unabashadily loving Live Free or Die Hard to absolutely despising Transformers, there's been very little middle ground for me this summer. With Hairspray I do have to say I think it could literally be the best movie of the year. Yes, Live Free or Die Hard was the best action movie of the summer, but I think Hairspray is gonna take the cake for the entire year.

For those of you who haven't seen the either the original John Waters film or the Broadway musical, and are terrified it's going to be nothing but frivolous jazz-hands-style fluff, fear not. You're completely wrong. And for the millions who have seen the previous incarnations and are scared that this latest version won't stand up to them, you may exhale now because you are going to love it too!

The backdrop for this feel-good musical is ironically Baltimore, Maryland, smack dab in the heart of the civil rights movement in the ’60s. Tracy Turnblad, played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky, is a feisty spitfire of a girl whose one dream in life is to dance on the Corny Collins Show, a local version of Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Even after shocking everyone and proving that a fat girl could dance on the show she finds herself face to face with another, even more powerful group of bigots as she attempts to integrate the program and for the first time show blacks and whites dancing together!

As I said before, the music in this show is infectiously good. I can't imagine anyone, no matter how backward you may be, not enjoying yourselves. You will have to try very, very hard to dislike Hairspray.

The all star cast that has been assembled here is exactly that. Every member of the principle cast is a star in their

own right. Let's start with the obvious triumphant return of former heart throb turned overweight housewife, John Travolta. I doubt anyone watching Grease all those years ago would ever have imagined that the next time he'd be seen in a musical would be in a fat suit playing a mother, but it works. John turns in a very enjoyable performance and plays off his fellow cast mates extremely well; after a while you begin to forget about the fact that his character is the only one sporting a "Baltimore" accent. His duet with 'husband' Christopher Walken is priceless (although personally I wanted to see the kiss).

Walken is in rare form and lighter than ever on his feet as his dancing and singing prove this man has not lost any of the charm or charisma that made him the legendary performer that he is.

Michelle Pfeiffer makes a welcome return to the screen after a four year break from the biz as Mrs. Baltimore Crabs and proves that you can be sexy and seductive at any age. (Well, unless you're Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2.)

The younger members of this ensemble are not overshadowed in any way by their elders. Nikki Blonsky was plucked straight out of a Cold Stone Creamery in New York and thrown into the Hollywood limelight as the lead of this sure-to-be hit movie and she seems as unaffected by it as one could imagine. There is a truthfulness and subtley to her performance that could only come from someone who has yet to be ruined by the studio system.

One of my favorite actors working today shows a completely different side of himself going from superhero to super singer: James Marsden couldn't be more perfect as the uber-corny but forward thinking Corny Collins. Both James and Queen Latifah, who plays his 'Negro Day' alternate host Motormouth Maybell, are caught in the middle of the age line: not as experienced as actors like Travolta, Pfeiffer and Walken, but also not as young and green as Efron, Snow and Bynes. My guess is they are speaking most to those of us late-twentysomethings scarily approaching that thirty mark.

Moving on to those younger tikes, Zac Efron star of the hugely popular High School Musical, personifies the term 'dreamy' in this role as Link Larkin, the object of all teenage affection. I honestly didn't understand what 'dreamy' meant until I saw him in this role; that might sound wrong, but just try not to melt every time he winks.

Brittany Snow really shines as the pushy 'but-I'm-the-prettiest' teenager, you can tell that she had an enormous amount of fun playing this character and it translates right onto the screen. Ditto for Elijah Kelley, who proves himself to be an incredibly talented singer. Amanda Bynes, meanwhile,

while not having much chance to sing, does manage to steal almost every scene she's in with her finely-tuned physical humor and some priceless facial expressions.

I cannot endorse this movie enough. This is one of those rare moments in film that will cross over demographic boundaries and be enjoyed by everyone, even those poor souls terrified of anything with the word “musical” attached. Anyone walking into Hairspray who actually WANTS to have a good time, most certainly will!

Movie Grade: A

Synopsis:

Sixteen years after the release of the original film, New Line Cinema is bringing a feature film adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway production Hairspray to life. Featuring new and original material based on John Waters‘ 1988 cult classic about star-struck teenagers on a local Baltimore dance show, the comedy features a remarkable collection of talent including John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, Allison Janney, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Chicago), and director Adam Shankman (Bringing Down the House).