After a run of movie adaptations of Broadway musicals ranging from terrible to tepid — including "Rent," "The Producers," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Dreamgirls" — "Hairspray" is a breath of fresh hair product.
Adapted from a production that sprang from the 1988 John Waters movie of the same title, "Hairspray" dispenses with the stiffness that afflicts its sisters to form an intimate, spring-stepped experience that pumps the auditorium with a razzle-dazzle last felt in "Chicago"(2002).
Director Adam Shankman's résumé — "Bringing Down the House," "The Pacifier" and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" — indicated he was a hack, but with "Hairspray," which he also choreographs, he proves he's a talent who's finally found his true calling. From the buoyant songs to the sharp humor to the inspired casting choices, Shankman nails every step. Most of the sharp subversiveness from Waters' original movie has been drained and repackaged as a cheeky underdog fable, but most of that damage was done in adapting the material to stage to begin with.
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The setting is early 1960s Baltimore, which was awakening from 1950s conformity to an era of upheaval. The film's not-so-bold social message is that people of all types — black, white, fat, skinny — should be allowed to dance together on TV and even (gasp!) make out. It doesn't matter that there's no bite to the material, or that the story packs as little edge and surprise as a Lawrence Welk show.
It's all about the music, baby. And the rollicking tunes and flashy dance numbers carry the day. This new "Hairspray" is as good as it could possibly be.
Newcomer Nikki Blonsky, a rotund 18-year-old with pipes of gold and a bouncy demeanor, plays Tracy Turnblad, a social outcast who dreams of dancing her way onto the "American Bandstand"-like Corny Collins show. She sings and jiggles her way through adversity.
John Travolta is a bizarre but oddly appropriate choice as Tracy's reclusive mom, Edna. Instead of going for campy in-jokes, Travolta plays it straight, and is more convincing as a female character than he has been in any of his male roles in the past decade. The rest of the cast is just as superb: Christopher Walken is extremely Walken-like as Tracy's dad, Michelle Pfeiffer hams it up as the snarling villain who tries to block Tracy from TV, Queen Latifah shows spunk as the show host of "Negro Day," and Amanda Bynes steals her share of scenes as Tracy's straitlaced, lollypop-sucking best pal.
"Hairspray" is a treat not only for lovers of musicals, but even for those who usually can't stand them.
Hairspray
***1/2
• Rated: PG for language, some suggestive content and momentary teen smoking.
• Cast: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes.
• Director: Adam Shankman.
• Family call: Great for families.
• Running time: 107 minutes.
