Review of Hairspray (2007) by Amheretojudge — 15 Oct 2018

It bounces back to the top..

Hairspray Shankman's lurid take on the stage play, is by far his best work up till now, no matter how vague his execution grows. And the credit goes undoubtedly to the tale itself, that is so presumptuous andit bounces back to the top..

Hairspray.

Shankman's lurid take on the stage play, is by far his best work up till now, no matter how vague his execution grows. And the credit goes undoubtedly to the tale itself, that is so presumptuous and narrow that it could have gone wrong within a snap, and yet is so deeply effective and layered that it bounces back to the top. This entire small town satirical metaphor town could not be more attention grabbing from its bright lights and light colors to the teenage world of as the title suggests, a world of bling and glitter fashion. Shankman's vision works because it celebrates its corny and one dimensional bubble and with that acceptance, he soars on glorifying each of these moments with a beat that makes you tap your feet and choreography that makes you groove. This teenage dream tale raises appropriate questions and widens its vision on simplistic terms that can definitely draw a genuine nod out of each viewer. The songs, the music, the lyrics, the dance, the glamour, the fame and the fashion each aspect is foliated into a narration which not only makes it adaptive and gripping but also efficient and layered. The performance unfortunately isn't upto the mark since there is not much range to factor in effectively by the cast where even talents like Pfeiffer, Walkmen and Travolta feels vulnerable. But since it's the "Grease" of the "Grease" movies, the point is to have fun without any guilt and on that terms the performance is aptly on the mark. Shankman's flamboyancy comes from the tale and not his passion of storytelling and it can and does get in between the flow of the feature at times. Hairspray may not be essential or a game changer, but what it is, is a Friday night club experience, that is just pure fun.