Hit – Starring John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Effron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, Nikki Blonsky
In 1962 Baltimore, a “pleasantly plump” teenager named Tracy Turnblad has two goals. First, Tracy wants to land a spot on the locally produced Corny Collins dance show. After Tracy has achieved this goal, she then wants to integrate the television show.
It may not be the the new “Grease,” but it certainly comes close. This movie is a feel good musical. The main character is extremely interesting because she has something important to fight for (integration). This movie had great musical numbers with excellent choreography. Sometimes, I would have liked to see more choreographed numbers in unison, but overall I felt this movie achieved what it set out to do – create a movie version of the stage musical that will be remembered and loved for years to come.
How is this movie better than Grease? Well, first of all, I love Grease and overall I find it better than Hairspray in the terms of movie musicals, but I must say that there is one area of Hairspray that is way better than Grease. This is the message of the movie. In Hairspray, Tracy is fighting for integration. In Grease, the message is to change yourself, and someone will like you. Overall, I found that Hairspray has better morals than Grease. But, Grease has more memorable characters and musical numbers.
The actors of this film were well cast. I really liked the interaction as mother and daughter in all of the following combinations – Tracy and Edna (Blonsky and Travolta), Amber and Velma (Snow and Pfieffer), and Penny and Prudy (Bynes and Janney). They were perfectly cast to fit each other so well in these mother/daughter roles.
Why did Travolta decide to do this film? Well, some people do not already know this but the stage version of this musical has always cast a man as Edna Turnblad. Previous Edna’s include Devine (from the original movie), and Bruce Vilanche. I read and article in People magazine that said Travolta had reservations about playing the role since he was afraid the movie would not live up to Grease. The director then convinced Travolta of his commitment to making Hairspray one of the best movie/musicals of the decade. I think it was a good decision. This musical is fantastic.
Kudos to newcomer Nikki Blonsky. She is enjoyable as Tracy Turnblad and I hope that she continues to play this role in the stage productions. Or, who knows, maybe she will get her own television talk show!
Bottom Line: One of the best films currently playing at a theatre near you. A must see!
Musical
Rated PG for language, some suggestive content and momentary teen smoking.
Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
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