Hairspray

It is hard to believe that we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of this film this week. It is even harder to believe that just one week after it opened Divine left the world's stage forever.

But, the star of the show was Ricki Lake in her first year as a film actress. She camped up John Water's script and delivered an enjoyable musical movie with a message that is just as important today as it was 20 years ago.

It was really interesting seeing people like Sonny Bono, Blondie, Jerry Stiller, Pia Zadora, and, of course, writer/director John Waters himself.

A goofy satire that is just as good today as it was then.

What a joyful and heartfelt movie this is, and totally different from many other US productions, thanks to John Waters ability to dare to stand out. First of all, this is the final movie from the late (great) Divine, who sadly passed away a short while after the film was released. He is really good in this film, and plays one of the lead characters with humour, passion and with a heart. The film has, as John Waters other films too, many funny, and strange cameo appearances, who are amusing and entertaining. Debbie Harry shows her acting talent in this film too. The story is light and cheerful, but underneath it has a message who deals with a more serious matter, racism. John Waters brings back a world of 50-music and Dance in this film, and it's very well done. This is so much better than the remake and no one can play Edna better better than Divine although John Travolta did his best. Ricky Lake does a good job here, but is not the films biggest asset. A must see.

Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, a short, chubby teen with big hair who loves to dance in "Hairspray," a 1988 John Waters film starring Divine, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller, and Mink Stole.

"Hairspray" has now been immortalized on Broadway as an enormous, energetic, fabulously entertaining musical which kept the conceit of a man playing Tracy's mother, again with great success.

"Hairspray" is highly exaggerated in parts, which makes it extra funny, and Waters captures '60s Baltimore beautifully. Corny Collins, who is the Baltimore Dick Clark, would like nothing better than to integrate his television show, but blacks are only permitted to dance one night a week.

The van Tussles are for segregation - that would be Sonny Bono, running for office, his wife Harry (on stage the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, in the film Miss Soft Crab). Harry's hairstyles are fantastic - HUGE - her last hairdo is in the form of an enormous loving cup.

When Tracy's friend Penny takes up with the son of an outspoken black woman, Motormouth Mabel (Ruth Brown), her hysterical mother has her kidnapped and put in the hands of a psychiatrist (Divine as a man) who tries to torture her to stop liking black men. It's so outrageous it's funny, and that's where Waters shows his talent.

When Tracy gets a contract modeling for a plus-sized woman's shop, the owner's live ad on Corny's show begins, "Tubby, tubby, 2 x 4, can't get through the kitchen door." It's this madcap treatment that keeps any of this from being remotely offensive.

All the performances are delightful, and there's a nice turn by Pia Zadora as a black-haired beatnik chick.

"Hairspray" has a lot of warmth that emanates from Tracy and the Turnblad family, and the mood stays upbeat throughout the entire film as the characters dance through life, Tracy with an overlay of blonde hair over her dark flip. Great music, great fun. "Hairspray" in any version is wonderful.

1st watched 11/12/2008- (Dir-John Waters): Fun and surprisingly watchable John Waters film about an overweight teen trying to make it on a 50's dance show. Rikki Lake is great in the lead and Divine does a good job as her understanding mother. Despite the filmmakers reputation there are very few gross-out scenes and a good anti-racial theme protecting both overweight people and blacks. The movie has a silly premise and approach but actually does a good job of showing how stupid some of the laws against African-Americans were in the fifties and the sixties. The movie also just flat out entertains and doesn't try to take itself too seriously. I'm actually now looking forward to watching other John Water's films because of this one although I'm sure most of them are not as tame as this one.

Arguably the high point of John Waters' career, HAIRSPRAY is a fun, energetic and infectious movie with a top-notch soundtrack and earnest performances from everyone involved. The story centers around Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), a "pleasantly plump" teenager who spends her afternoons watching the Corny Collins Show, where teenagers dance the most popular dances to the latest tunes. She manages to get on the show, and from there hopes to bring integration to Baltimore, Maryland (this takes place in 1962). While still maintaining some of the weirdness which made John Waters (in)famous, this film rises above campiness because of the social ideas it embraces, e.g., racial equality. There's also hints of commentary on fame and child stars, akin to themes explored in more explicit ways in his previous films, but the focus here is on bringing people together. And what better way than through music and dancing? Just about everything in the movie works, from the retro fashion which has been lovingly recreated/exaggerated to the choreography and music. It's so catchy that you just want to get up and dance yourself. Still, the movie isn't without its negatives. The narrative is a bit thin, and the conflict is resolved a little too easily, but this can be mostly forgiven because of the strength of everything else around it. Recommended for moviegoers of all ages.