Hairspray

Hairspray-The Musical is a delightful night at the movies. I found myself smiling throughout the evening at the exuberance, joy, costumes, and the hilarious dialogue. Unknown Nikki Blonsky plays the heroine, Tracy Turnblad, with an enthusiasm and grin that is contagious. John Travolta plays her mom, Edna, with respect and sensitivity for this woman of large size and heart. A measure of Travolta's success is that I stopped thinking of the character as John Travolta in drag about half way through the movie in the joyous number, "Welcome to the '60's". The whole movie is a reminder of the fashions, silliness, and racial stereotypes of that decade. It is also a tribute to those who were willing to risk all to create the changes that needed to come. Owen Gleiberman writing in Entertainment weekly gets it right when he writes, "Hairspray is a fizzy and delirious high-camp message-movie musical that may just turn out to be the happiest movie of the summer." Christopher Walken plays Tracy's father with a goofy weirdness that is fun to watch especially when the villainous Velma Von Tussle, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, attempts to seduce him in his joke shop. The movie ends with the exhuberant "You Can't Stop the Beat" and if you go to this movie, I bet you can't stop smiling.