Hairspray Review

OK I know that this movie does not come out for another week but I was able to see a sneak preview of it on Tuesday night.  A friend of mine got free tickets from work and took me along with him.  I honestly knew nothing about the movie or any of the songs from the musical but it was a free night out with my friend so I was up for it.  Then that morning I thought awww man I don't want to go see a movie about a beauty salon.  Seriously, I had no idea what it was about.  But I dragged myself out and saw the movie.  I can't believe I almost cancelled!  It was SO great that I plan to buy the soundtrack and take my mom to see it.

Hairspray is based in 1962 and revolves around Tracy Turnblad (Nikky Blonsky), a chubby high schooler who just wants to dance, have fun, and live in a world where everyone, regardless of race or size, gets along and is treated equally.  But it is 1962 and segregation is still happening so this proves to be a bit difficult and Tracy and her friends fight to turn things around and have lots of laughs and tons of dancing and singing in the process.

I had no idea what this movie was about when I saw it and was surprised to find that it had a plot and a good one at that.  The music was very catchy and enjoyable and the lyrics are quite funny and a bit shocking at times.  I so enjoyed the music that I felt like cheering and applauding at the end of each song.  I'm not a huge dance fan but the dancing was very enjoyable as well.  The costumes and hair were a hoot but John Travolta in drag completely stole the show.  I had been wondering what would possess him to play the part of Tracy's mom in this movie but I later found out that the role was played by Divine in the 1988 version of the movie so apparently it's status quo for a drag queen to play the role.  Most of the laughs revolved around Travolta in various situations and some of his/her lines.  Christopher Walken played Tracy's dad and it was wild to see him singing and dancing and not playing kind of a creepy guy for a change.  I pretty much wanted to slap Michelle Pfeiffer who played the villain in the movie but I think that's the point of her character which she played well. 

By the last scene of the movie, which was an extended dance scene that was about 15 minutes in length, I had laughed til my sides hurt and I was ready to grab my friend and start dancing in the aisles.  It was very much a funny, feel good movie and I highly recommend it.