Big girls, you are beautiful

HAIRSPRAY

Traditionally, musicals aren’t really my thing. The whole idea of people breaking out into song in the middle of a scene can be jarring and oft times plain silly. Animated features can get away with this quite easily, but in live action it’s harder to excuse. This was one of the main reasons I didn’t enjoy Dreamgirls. The songs seemed forced into places where words alone would have sufficed. Hairspray is different kettle of fish entirely.

It started life as a John Waters cult movie in the 80s and then made the transition to a successful stage musical before being revamped into a Hollywood movie. While I can’t speak for either of the previous incarnations (its been SO long since I saw the original, I cant remember it at all), this latest version is an absolute delight.

The story follows the lovable little Tracy Turnblad as she strives to get onto her favourite show and in doing so, bump hips with the guy of her dreams. Her only obstacle is the objections concerning her appearance (Tracy is an ample girl, you see).

While the movie looks quite light and fluffy, it tackles some fairly weighty issues (pun very much intended). The theme of prejudice, segregation, acceptance and integration (applying to both Tracy and the black community in the 60s) runs throughout the movie. Sometimes the message of tolerance was a bit heavy handed though (even bordering on preachy at times!).

Where the movie really shines is of course the music. The songs are great fun and appropriately combine the theatrics of a stage musical with the quality and style of the music of the 60s. Add that to the fantastic choreography and you can’t help but toe-tap your way through most of the musical numbers. The set designs were perfect, the costumes were brilliantly garish and the hair was suitably over the top.

The star of the movie would have to be Tracy Turnblad, played with gusto by newcomer Nikki Blonski. For the most part, the remaining roles were populated by people who are known to have experience in singing / dancing, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well James Marsden handled himself. The rest of the cast were a joy to watch and performed admirably.

The only exception would be John Travolta. Having such a recognised star play a woman was a tad distracting (even though I’m aware the role was previously played by a drag queen!) and the accent he put on for the entire movie bugged the hell out of me (can anyone say "Doctor Evil"?!). But fat suit or no, he still did a great job with the musical numbers :D

Hairspray is a must see movie with a tremendous feel good factor. Try as you might, theres just no stopping that beat!