This energetic adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the John Waters film bounces off the screen with lively performances, sly wit and catchy tunes. Making her big screen debut, lead Nikki Blonsky has an amazingly expressive face, which draws us in and wins us over. She is supported by great work from many of her fellow cast members, but she is truly the star of the show even when in scenes with A-listers like John Travolta and Christopher Walken.
Tracy Turnbald (Blonsky), a bubbly overweight teen, is a devoted fan of the local Baltimore '60s dance show hosted by Corny Collins (James Marsden, THE NOTEBOOK). When one of the regular girls must take a leave of absence for nine months, Tracy drags her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes, SHE'S THE MAN) down to the studio to audition. But station manager Velma von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer, STARDUST) won't let any plump freaks dance near her reining Miss Hairspray daughter Amber (Brittany Snow, JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE). Disappointed Tracy gets no support from her mother Edna (Travolta), who is ashamed of her own size and hasn't left the house in a decade. Her father Wilbur (Walken) on the other hand wants her to keep reaching for the stars, so when she learns some new steps from Seaweed (Elijah Kelley, 28 DAYS), whose mother Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah, CHICAGO) hosts "Negro Day" on the Corny Collins Show, Tracy shows up at a hop and knocks the socks off Corny Collins, as well as Amber's boyfriend Link Larkin (Zac Efron, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL). Now with Tracy on the show, Velma plots to stop Turnbald mania, which begins to take over Baltimore.
Tracy's enthusiastic optimism is like SpongeBob in human form. In this we believe that she could inspire such support and motivate her mother to dust off her dancing shoes as well. Many critics have been love it or hate it when it comes to Travolta in a fat suit and drag, but I came away just satisfied. He didn't blow me away, but I felt he was convincing and funny as the obese matriarch of the Turnbald family. Travolta and Walken might be the oddest couple of the year, but again Walken proves why he is a legend. It seems like he'll take any wacky role that is thrown at him, but he always makes it his own. I particularly found his obliviousness charming in the scene when Pfeiffer's Velma tries to seduce him.
Speaking of Pfeiffer, she has done an excellent job in his film and STARDUST this year reinventing herself as the beautiful older witch — literally and figuratively depending on the role. Both Marsden and Latifah are perfectly cast and the younger supporting actors hit their marks as well. Kelley can truly belt out a tune and I'm sure Efron helped bring HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL fans to see this film, which is a maturing step for young musical fans — maybe they'll be ready for SWEENEY TODD this fall.
Director Adam Shankman (A WALK TO REMEMBER) keeps the pace moving, which made the film fun and firmly put a smile on my face. The subversive wit when skewering the white bread nature of the early 1960s is deviously fun. It's light and frothy, but not airheaded. There was a reason why musicals were so popular during the Golden Age of Hollywood and this film reminds us why that was so.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
