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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Never Goes Limp, July 20, 2007
`Hairspray' is a non-stop, exhilarating song and dance extravaganza. This exuberant remake of the John Waters' musical is funny, fast, and fabulous. Adam Shankman's direction is appropriately lilting in the right measure, but balanced with social commentary highlights. Unlike 'Dreamgirls,' there are no Oscar worthy performances, but the production is so fun there doesn't have to be. The entertainment is winning on every level, and, as for the songs, it never goes limp.
Once again we are transported to the early sixties in Baltimore, where flannel is uniform, Blacks and Whites are segregated, and beehives are in fashion. The plot is fairly simple: Overweight teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) wants to break the mold on her favorite TV program "The Corny Collins Show" (an "American Bandstand"-like feature) while discovering a more urgent need to end segregation on a show that only sometimes features "Negro Night". She gets her big break when teen singing sensation, Link Larkin (Zac Efron) makes advances that bring her to the stage floor. In the meantime, her success is challenged by the show's program manager, (played with overbearing skill by Michelle Pfeiffer) and her daughter, Amber, the show's reigning "Miss Teenage Hairspray," a nasty nemesis . Joining forces with her Afro-American friends, especially Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) and dancer Seaweed (Elijah Kelly), she works for equal time on the dance floor.
`Hairspray' is set as perfect entertainment. John Travolta provides likable loopiness as Nikki's mother while he dances and cross-dresses his way into our hearts. The villains are nasty enough, and the sweetness pervades even amongst important demonstrations on key social issues. When it all comes down to balance, 'Hairspray' fills the bill.
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305 of 367 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not sure why this isn't part of the description, October 23, 2007
Information below was found on another site - I hope it's accurate. If Amazon wants to add this to the description and delete this comment it's fine with me.
Single-Disc Edition:
* 16×9 widescreen version of the film or 4×3 fullscreen version of the film
* English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound
* English & Spanish subtitles
* Closed captions
Two-Disc "Shake and Shimmy" Edition:
* "Behind the Beat" picture-in-picture option allowing viewers to watch behind-the-scenes footage and on-screen commentary concurrently with the running feature (HD Exclusive)
* All new musical number, "I Can Wait"
* Feature-length audio commentary from director and choreographer Adam Shankman, star Nikki Blonsky and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron
* Deleted scenes with audio commentary from director and choreographer Adam Shankman and star Nikki Blonsky
* "You Can't Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of Hairspray" documentary
* "Step By Step: The Dances of Hairspray" featurette offering how-to dance instruction
* "Hairspray Extensions" featurette, giving viewers dance breakdowns
* Jump to a song with optional sing-along feature
* "The Roots of Hairspray" featurette
* Interactive menus
* Theatrical trailer
* 16×9 widescreen version of the film
* English 2.0 Stereo Surround
* English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (on feature, deleted scenes and interactive menus)
* English & Spanish subtitles
* Closed captions
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
No Stopping the Beat Here with Such a Game Cast and Surprising Gravitas, August 11, 2007
This is the sort of brassy, candy-coated musical to which you either give yourself entirely or not at all because there is little room in between. First, there was the edgy 1988 John Waters comedy followed years later by the sunnier 2002 Broadway musical version. I thoroughly enjoyed the elaborate stage version thanks mainly to Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's ebullient music and sharp lyrics and stellar performances from Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur as a most unlikely mother and daughter in 1962 Baltimore. That most of that high-kicking, watusi-gyrating spirit remains intact is quite an accomplishment for director Adam Shankman, whose previous track record consists of mediocre studio comedies. Adapting Mark O'Donnell's stage book, screenwriter Leslie Dixon seems equally unlikely of pulling it off. Yet, somehow they do and even bring a deeper sense of gravitas than the previous incarnations with the heavier elements of racism and segregation. Starting out his career as a dancer and choreographer, Shankman provides the energetic, in-your-face choreography that is appropriately applied here.
The story centers on Tracy Turnblad, a genuinely optimistic teenager, a bouncing bundle of energy obsessed with the local Corny Collins dance show. Living in a working-class neighborhood with her agoraphobic, self-consciously plus-sized mother Edna and her congenial, novelty store-owner father Wilbur, Tracy only wants to dance on Corny's show. Standing in her way is the malevolent Velma Von Tussle, an aging beauty who owns the TV station, and her equally venal daughter Amber. Once a month, the station allows the dance show to have a co-host, blonde-tressed Motormouth Maybelle, who holds a "Negro Day" to allow the local black kids to dance on their own. These kids seem to end up in detention a lot since Tracy finds them there and learns new dance moves from them. She realizes the world would be a better place if black and white kids were able to dance together on Corny's show. This sets up the story's central conflict, which comes accompanied by romantic complications among the various characters. All of this ends with the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant and naturally a pull-all-the-stops production number.
The casting is inspired. Following Divine and especially Fierstein in the cross-dressing role of Edna is no easy task, but John Travolta brings a surprising delicacy to the character. The novelty of his casting never wears off, but he also does not stoop that much to parody either. Even with a slightly garbled Baltimore accent, he is convincing as a woman who has accepted life's compromises for the sake of her family. Alternating quickly between clever and broad, Michelle Pfeiffer has a field day playing Velma, though she has precious little opportunity to show off her long dormant singing talent. As Maybelle, Queen Latifah seems to be cornering the market on musical earth-mother types and gets her shining moments on "Big Blonde and Beautiful" and especially on the gospel-flavored "I Know Where I've Been". Christopher Walken has comparatively less to do as the put-upon Wilbur, though he shows off his singing and dancing skills on his sweet pas de deux with Travolta on "(You're) Timeless to Me".
For all the veteran talent on display, it's Nikki Blonsky who carries the heart of the movie as Tracy, and her sunny demeanor and "American Idol"-caliber talent keep the story aloft. The other teens - Zac Efron as singing heartthrob Link, Amanda Bynes as devoted best friend Penny, Brittany Snow as spoiled Amber, and Elijah Kelley as Maybelle's son Seaweed - are all played with energetic adolescent brio. Complementing the principal cast are James Marsden as the perpetually smiling Corny and Allison Janney as Penny's Bible-thumping mother. Everyone is in the right spirit, and the pacing and tone are spot-on. The film's one weakness is a certain lack of energy in the camera movement around the production numbers, as Shankman's tendency is to film key dance sequences intermittently at mid-waist level. The net effect is a reduction in the overall energy level at key moments such as Travolta's Tina Turner-style turn at the end. Regardless, this is fun stuff for those open to this genre.
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