Customer Reviews

Blow Dry [VHS]

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently saw Richard Curtis' wonderful 'Love Actually' and - having been bowled over once again by the bountiful comic talents of Bill Nighy and great work of the sloe-eyed, laconic Alan Rickman - wondered where to turn next to enjoy the work of these two fine actors.

The answer: "Blow Dry." Rickman and Nighy are fabulous as long-time rival hairdresser competitors in this campy but touching tale that tries very hard to get that unique "Strictly Ballroom" feel and camp/pathos/triumph balance. It falls just short of that, but it's a real treat nevertheless.

Unfortunately, judging from the irksome U.S. coverbox you'd never guess this was such a touching, well-written and intelligently humorous movie with a *very* talented cast - Nighy, Rickman, Natasha Richardson (!), Rachel Griffiths (!!). Now, that's an honor roll. With all that going for it, why, why, why do we get force-fed a marketing campaign featuring Josh Harnett and Rachael Leigh Cook? Harnett is quite good here, actually, pulling off a British accent with aplomb. But poor Cook is placed into a no-win situation as the supposed Minneapolis-based daughter of hairdresser Nighy. It seems force-fed into the movie...she's totally boxed in here and can't fight her way out.

I ignored this movie for two years because of bad marketing. How many others are going to miss out for the same reason? I knew Nighy (possibly my favorite actor) was involved, but felt like I was going to have to sit through a Harnett/Cook "She's All That" clone. I had to have a friend tell me otherwise. Turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. This is a great little film you need to check out as soon as possible.

Two additional little treats -

- Warren Clarke as The Mayor, who gets more and more showy and confident as the movie goes on (and actually shepards the film through its credits in a bit of solo showmanship). Name ring a bell? How about 'Dim' in "A Clockwork Orange"? Wow! Also, he's known in the UK most recently as Detective Andy Dalziel in the recurring TV series "Dalziel and Pascoe."

- Heidi Klum, hiding behind pancake makeup and blonde fright wig as 'Total Look' muse 'Jasmine.' You wouldn't think it possible to turn Heidi Klum shrewish and unattractive, but 'Blow Dry' pulls it off.

This is a movie about a family divided, who are brought together at a crossroad in their lives by a hairdressing championship being held in their small town. The family, comprised of Alan Rickman and his grown son, played by Joshua Harnett, run the town barber shop and are estranged from their former wife and mother, played by Natasha Richardson. The estrangement came about ten years previously, when she ran off with their hairdressing model, played by Rachel Griffiths, a woman with whom she still maintains a loving, romantic relationship and openly lives with as a couple. Rickman, feeling that he had not only been betrayed but made a laughingstock, has not forgiven her.

Unbeknownst to them all, Natasha is going to die, as she has lost the war with the cancer that she has been battling. When she discovers that the big hairdressing competition is coming to their town, she hopes for a last bit of glory and familial reconciliation. You see, when she ran off with Rachel Griffiths ten years prior, she did so on the eve of the hairdressing competition that they were all favored to win. Obviously, her actions squelched that prospect at the time. She hopes to make things right, now that the end is near.

She finally persuades them with much difficulty to enter the competition, where Rickman encounters his old nemesis. Then, the bag of tricks begin to fly, all of which were done much better in the movie "The Big Tease". The movie has a little difficulty deciding whether to play it for laughs or for pathos. Ultimately, pathos wins, but not without the movie having suffered from some indecision on this front. Still, Rickman, Richardson, and Griffiths are wonderful, as always, and the movie does have its worthwhile moments. It is a moderately enjoyable, though predictable, film of a family finally brought together in time of crisis. If it is a hairdressing competition film that you want, view "The Big Tease" instead.

Alan Rickman is fantastic in any role he takes on. In his role as a divorced hair stylist, who is still in love with his ex-wife who is a lesbian, Alan continues to amaze the audience with his multi-faceted talent. He touches your heart with humor, love, angered emotion and a yearning for what he knows he can't have; his wife. In the midst of it all is a plot that is both comical and tragic. This film had me watching it again and again and again. If you love Alan Rickman, you will love this movie as well.

A wife (Natasha Richardson) suddenly leaves her husband (Alan Rickman) and young son (Josh Hartnett) for another woman (Rachel Griffiths). Ten years later, she has cancer and is dying.

In an attempt to try up loose ends in her life, Shelley Allen wants to enter a team (herself, her ex, their son, and her lover) in the British National Hairdressing Championships for old time's sake.

Winning is optional.

Alan Rickman works his magic has the husband who never stopped loving his wife; he's no longer "in love" but she is still importent to him.

Natasha Richardson radiates fear as a woman who knows her days are numbered but doesn't know how many she has left. She wants to live her last days in happiness with her family and reuniting this winning styling team may be her only hope to make that happen.

The weak link in a chain of strong actors are the Americans, Josh Hartnett and Rachael Leigh Cook. Hartnett's accent leaves something to be desired and he comes off very stiff. Cook's part serves little use--she is a pretty face and the insurance that Rickman and Richardson's styling team capture the win.

However, under all the fun, glamor, and heated competition that is the odd business of professional hair-styling, the message is very simple: The importent stuff in life never really goes away, it just changes a little.

for anyone who enjoyed "The Full Monty," you will most certainly enjoy this newest spectacle from the same writer. however, instead of setting his sights on male strippers, he has gone after the hairdressing industry with a film that is beyond hilarious! when i saw it in the theater, the entire audience, which was primarily above the age of 50, was rolling in the aisles. to a twenty-year-old person, the sight of 100 conservative geriatric citizens laughing so hard they cried at a movie, says a lot about the humor factor of a film. my cheeks were aching too by the time we left. the plot is based upon the premise that the British Hair Championships are underway in a small town, home of a retired competitor (Alan Rickman). his son, played by Josh Hartnett, wishes to enter the competition, as well as the ex-wife and her lesbian partner and all of them eventually get sucked into the drama. the hairstyles are amazingly complex, hideous, and breathtaking and the people are such unusual characters that you can't help but love them all, even the most obnoxious ones! if you're in the mood to see a movie that is completely ridiculous and will blow your socks off, this is the one to see!

This is a feel good movie from beginning to end. It's made with equal parts of melodrama, camp and comedy and has a great, finger- popping sound track. It's a spoof of all competitions and competitors that take themselves too seriously, while at the same time celebrating love and eccentricity. It left me smiling and wanting more.

Normally, this type of film wouldn't appeal to me, but because Alan Rickman is in it, there'd be no question that I'd watch it. Rickman sometimes does the weirdest films, and though he's exceptional in them, the film itself bombs. And though this film wasn't out in theaters for very long, I didn't find it to be a bomb at all. The main plot is very entertaining and well put together, and the subplot, though depressing, brings happy tears to your eyes by the end. I thought the whole film was well balanced and fun to watch over and over again, even if you're not a Rickman fan!

this film is totally hilarious. if you like English comedies, something slightly out of the normal and great ideas, it's a must-see! heidi klum is nearly not recognizable, alan rickman and natasha richardson are at their best. and the scene in the morgue with the hair dye kept me laughing out for ages. still, at some points slightly sad, but overall a great film for an evening in.

The British are so damn gifted at movies like this, that have a great script, awesome actors, great setting and great cinematography that actually makes you feel as if you are a part of the film. The story line is funny, sad and who ever knew hair could be formed into such wild and wonderfully eclectic designs. But is the end that is the keeper and if nudity can be funny as well as classy this is it.

this has to be one of my favorite films. It is a touching story about what really matters in life, love, family and beating the snot out of the bad guy. The jokes are great and the story even greater. Don't miss it.