Review: New ‘Hairspray’ fun while underlining social issues

Directed by: Adam Shankman

Starring: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Amanda Bynes, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Marsden, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley

Rated: PG

The lineage of the new “Hairspray” is such that the credits tell us the screenplay was written by “Leslie Dixon, based on the musical by Mark O’Donnell, based on the 1988 screenplay by John Waters.” Waters’ original film had plenty of music in it but wasn’t a musical. Then came O’Donnell’s Broadway musical, and finally, “Hairspray” comes full circle with Adam Shankman’s musical film, based on the play.

Strangely enough, this isn’t the first time this same set of circumstances has occurred in Hollywood. Both “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Producers” followed the same path.

What surprised me most about the showing I attended was the size of the audience. The theater was three-quarters full, and a good number of those people were not born when Waters released the original film in 1988.

Shankman’s musical follows the same basic plot as Waters’ original. But this time, the characters break into song onscreen. The songs are reminiscent of early 1960s pop tunes by groups such as The Crystals and The Shangri-Las. While they are produced well, add a lot to the story and have some very clever lyrics, they are not songs one is likely to remember for very long – unless you buy the soundtrack.

Waters, who grew up in Baltimore, claims some of the plot is based on real events, and who knows?

It’s 1962, and the teenage rage is an “American Bandstand”-style after-school TV show called “The Corny Collins Show.” While the show does have “Negro Day” once a month, integration is not encouraged or even tolerated.

Tracy Turnblad, played by Ricki Lake in Waters’ film and by newcomer Nikki Blonsky here, dreams of being on the show. Her mother – played by John Travolta in drag in the role made famous by female impersonator Divine and played by Harvey Fierstein on Broadway – doesn’t want Tracy to try out. It’s not that the teen can’t dance – she’s one of the best in Baltimore – but she’s a good deal more “plump” that most of “the nicest kids in town” who populate the show.

Undeterred, Tracy manages to get in the audition. The kids, for the most part, like her and recognize her talent. But the show’s producer, Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), will have no part of it. She has her own daughter on the show and doesn’t want Tracy to show her up.

There are some serious issues dealt with along the way, but there’s always plenty of humor.

Racism is the dealt with on many levels. When Tracy gets sent to detention, she meets several African American teens who teach her some crazy new dances. She thinks the kids are cool and, after she gets a spot on “Corny Collins” (take that, Velma), she and a few others go about trying to integrate show.

The final production numbers are done up big and snappy, even when the subject matter – integration is on its way – is a serious one. Tracy’s best friend, Penny, even falls for a black boy, to her racist mom’s horror.

Director Shankman also choreographed the film, and the kids, as well a Travolta in a fat suit, all dance and sing with a lot of style. Blonsky wins the audience over from the movie’s first frame. Queen Latifah, as Motormouth Maybelle, the owner of the local record shop, puts in her best performance since “Chicago.”

Speaking of that film, and last year’s “Dreamgirls,” “Hairspray” will not likely be getting any Oscar nominations, but it’s a really fun, upbeat film with a lot of heart.

Watch for a cameo by Waters himself as a local Baltimore “flasher.”

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]