Review of Hairspray (2007) by Markb. — 28 Aug 2007

Who would've guessed in 2006 that in 2007 Karl Rove would exit stage left...er, right; that either Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie would serve ANY jail time whatsoever...or that the guy who brought us The Pacifier AND Cheaper by the Dozen 2 would actually follow them with a really GOOD movie? Not that the original source material (John waters' cleanest movie to date, an early-1960s-set satirical-sociological study of how a local Baltimore, MD American Bandstand-type TV dance show goes from having a once a month "Negro Day" to making every day "Rainbow Day") isn't already quite irresistable, or that the stars and songs aren't pretty terrific, but Adam Shankman directs (and choreographs) with a flawless lightness and wit I never suspected he had in him.

Casting is uniformly spot-on, ranging from John Travolta's amazing ability to find true tenderness in his role as Edna Turnblad, heroine Tracy's painfully shy, overweight shut-in mom (completely making us forget that we're watching him take over a role originally played by Divine!), Christopher Walken as his (her?) novelty-store proprietor husband displaying a deep love for him (her?) as convincingly as he did for Brooke Adams in The Dead Zone, and Michelle Pfeiffer thoroughly relishing her newly-regrown cat claws as a snobbish, bigoted local TV honchette looking to further her daughter's stardom.

(Pfeiffer looks a little TOO emaciated, though, even if the role calls for it. If her gaunt appearance isn't the result of the same kind of special effects and makeup magic that helped make Travolta so convincing, only in reverses, then let's hope that now that this movie has long since wrapped, that David E.

Kelley has stuffed a few much-needed double cheeseburgers down his wife's gullet.) Best of all, and making the debut of the year, is the infectiously sunny Nikki Blonsky as Charm City teen Tracy, who almost simultaneously discovers the pain of racism, the pleasure of celebrity and the thrill of a first romance; she's adorably cheery and perky without being saccharine, and when she smiles she could pass as Cynthia Stevenson's plus-sized kid sister.

Hairspray's box office stealth success as a summer favorite (a notable accomplishment given that most of the movie musicals that followed Chicago were financial disappointments--including, sadly, Dreamgirls) shouldn't be too surprising considering how resonantly it taps into a couple of recent pop-culture undercurrents (even though it's a period piece): America's slowly growing acceptance if not embracing of personality over "perfect" looks, as evidenced by Ugly Betty's status as a TV heroine, and the yearning of many of its youth to define their own paths rather than be defined by steeotypical labels, an essential thematic element of the Disney Channel's wildly beloved High School Musical movies (which feature Hairspray's Zac Efron).