Hairspray (2007)

New Line Cinema, 2007
Starring Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Zac Efron, and Michelle Pffeifer
Directed by Adam Shankman
Music and Lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

This one had a convoluted trip to the big screen. It started out as a 1988 comedy by gross-out director John Waters. The stage adaptation hit Broadway in 2002 and proved to be such a huge hit, it returned to the big screen five years later. How does the story of a plus-sized teenager who dreams of dancing on a music show in 1962 Baltimore come off amid today's racial and musical climate? Let's head to Tracy Turnblad's room in Baltimore and follow her to school to find out...

The Story: Tracy (Blonsky) is a sweet girl with a personalty as big as she is. She and her best friend Penny (Amanda Byrne) are addicted to The Corny Collins Show, a local dance program, and its peppy dancers The Nicest Kids In Town. When the show gets an opening, Tracy auditions. Unfortunately, the show is managed by Velma Von Tussle (Pffeifer), a former beauty queen who relegates black dancers to a once-a-month "Negro Day" and neglects the other dancers to push her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow) into the spotlight.

After she ends up in detention, Tracy learns new dance moves from the "Negro Day" performers, including Seaweed (Elijah Kelley). She shows off these moves at a school dance, which gets her on the show and the attention of its main male dancer Link (Efron). Tracy's unique dances make her the hit of Baltimore TV and the talk of the town, to Amber and Velma's frustration. Tracy's mother Edna (Travolta) even emerges from her laundry business to become her manager. Tracy, however, is still determined that her new friends should dance more than once a month, even if she has to join a protest started by the Negro Day host Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifa) to do it and sacrifice her own popularity.

The Song and Dance: Big, bright, bold, and a lot of fun. I love the performances here. Newcomer Blonsky is a ball of sunshine as Tracy, who's determined that everyone, black or white, should have a chance to dance. Byrne's a riot as her sweet and supportive best friend, and Efron gets to show off his teen-dream charm as the object of Tracy's affections. John Travolta does better than you might think as Tracy's worried mother in a fat suit and drag and makes a surprisingly cute couple with Christopher Walken. Candy-colored costumes mingle with down-to-Earth sets, ably showing the changes in the early 60's from Amber's frilly yellow prom gown to Tracy's abstract black-and-white minidress and straight hair. I also kind of like the changed ending that truly integrates the show and throws the spotlight on both the black and white performers.

Favorite Number: We open in high style with "Good Morning Baltimore," as Tracy describes her gritty downtown neighborhood in the perkiest possible tones. The tracking shot of her on the garbage truck's adorable. "I Can Hear the Bells" shows just how crazy about Link Tracy is as she goes through her school day dreaming about him and ignoring everything else, including rubber balls in her direction and her classwork.

"New Girl In Town" starts off cutesy, with the pastel Nicest Kids In Town doing their movies and describing Tracy's arrival...but the heat goes way up and the colors go primary as the "Negro Day" dancers take over. Seaweed and his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks) tear up the park as they explain about being a black teen in the changing early 60's in "Run and Tell That." Travolta and Walken have a great time romping through the dance genre satire in "You're Timeless to Me."

The big one here is the classic finale, "You Can't Stop the Beat." It gives all the principals a chance to shine while relating the show's theme - it doesn't matter how big you are or what the color of your skin is, we all deserve a chance to dance. The kids throw themselves into the gyrating moves, Travolta's solo is awesome, and it ends the entire film on a burst of energy. I also have a soft spot for the additional credits song "Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)."

Trivia: The Broadway version opened in 2002 and proved to be a huge hit, running for seven years. It also ran in the West End for three years with British stage star Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad. There was a TV version, Hairspray Live!, that ran on NBC in 2016 and featured Harvey Fiernstein in his original role as Edna, Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle, and Martin Short as Wilbur.

What I Don't Like: \Queen Latifa beautifully puts over the anthem "I Know Where I've Been," but the whole protest scene is a bit of mood whiplash from the rest of the effervescent plot. I do kind of wish it had retained some of the songs from the Broadway show (thought "Cooties" and "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" sneak in during the credits).

The Big Finale: This is one of the best musical films made in the 21st century. If you want a big, bright extravaganza with great dances and something to say, you'll want to grab your can of hairspray and twist on over to this one.

Home Media: As one of the newer movies I've covered, this is easily available in all formats.

DVD - Deluxe Edition
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime

Back to School Again Double Feature - Grease and Grease 2

In honor of Labor Day and many students returning to school this week, we're touring Rydell High School, where the Pink Ladies and T-Birds rule the hall in the late 50's and early 60's. A pair of shy newcomers from England and Australia may be turning heads and hearts, but they're as square as they come. They can't fit in with the ultra-cool American cliques...until they make a few changes..

Grease
Paramount, 1978
Starring Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway
Directed By Randal Kleisner
Music by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, and others

The Story: It's the fall of 1958. Australian Sandy Olsen (Olivia Newton-John) just spent the summer of her life with handsome Danny Zuko (Travolta). Danny gets quite a shock when he runs into Sandy at Rydell. He just told pretty much every guy at school he spent the summer making out with her, which turns out to be far from the case. Sandy doesn't know what to make of him, or her new friends the Pink Ladies, who smoke and drink as much as the boys.

She finally gets fed up with his posturing and breaks up with him after another girl cuts in on them at the school dance and he tries to put the moves on her. The both decide that the best way to win their sweethearts back is to show that they can be what the other wants from them - that Danny can do an activity besides hanging out with the guys, and Sandy can be as tough as anybody. Meanwhile, sweet-natured Pink Lady Frenchy is having problems in beauty school, while sassy Rizzo is having her own trouble with her boyfriend Kenckie (Conaway), who seems more interested in the junker car he wants to race than in her and her possible blessed event.

The Song and Dance: What I've always liked about this movie is the late 70's grit that's attached itself to this late 50's tale. The "teens" may be played by adults, but they still talk like teenagers, even now. There's some mildly dark touches, including Rizzo's little problem in the second half of the film. Newton-John and Travolta's palpable chemistry makes them a lot of fun to watch. I also like Conn's upbeat Frenchy, Channing and Conaway as the second couple, and 50's TV actors Eve Arden, Sid Caeser, and Alice Ghostly as the principal and staff of Rydell.

Favorite Number: Almost every song in this movie, from the split-screen ensemble number "Summer Nights" that reveals Sandy and Danny's differing views on just what happened during their summer idyll, to their "You're the One That I Want" in the fun house towards the end, is pretty much considered iconic today. I've always loved the school dance sequence, with it's colorful costumes and awesome choreography by Patricia Birch. There's more energy in that number than in many musicals with twice the budget, and everyone looks like they're having a great time. All the little cutaway gags (like Sonny "washing his hands" with the punch bowl) add to the fun.

What I Don't Like: As good as Newton-John looks in her tight black leather outfit and perm, the ending, both in the original show and the movie, always felt tacked-on to me. I kind of wish we'd seen Sandy considering making changes a little earlier, as they did with Danny and the sports teams.

I also wish they'd kept more of the songs from the original Broadway show. The film's soundtrack includes Broadway songs they used in the background, like "Freddy My Love" and "It's Raining on Prom Night," and I think a lot of them could have been worked in for other characters. Everyone sings in the stage show; only Danny, Sandy, and Rizzo get solos here.

The Big Finale: The nitpick about Sandy's change and the missing songs aside, this is by far one of the most beloved and enjoyable musical films of the latter half of the 20th century. A must-see for fans of Travolta and Newton-John or musical comedies. (I haven't seen the live version from two years ago that aired on Fox, but it's gotten some sterling reviews. I really need to pick that one up somewhere along the line.)

Home Media: DVD
Blu-Ray
4K

Grease 2
Paramount, 1982
Starring Michelle Pfiffer, Maxwell Caulifield, Adrian Zmed, and Lorna Luft
Directed by Patricia Birch
Music by Louis. St. Louis and others

The Story: We're back at Rydell, but it's now 1961. John F. Kennedy's inauguration earlier that year has unleashed a new spirit of optimism and freedom in the US...and that applies to the Pink Ladies and T-Birds, too. Head Pink Lady Stephanie Zanoni (Pfiffer) is a tough tomboy who is tired of her obnoxious and immature boyfriend, head T-Bird Johnny Nogarelli (Zmed) and is shopping around for someone who is both cooler and more sophisticated.

Enter Michael Carrington (Caulifield), an exchange student from England who immediately gets a crush on Stephanie. No matter how brilliant or good-looking he is, he has three strikes against him. He's shy with the opposite sex, an A+ student, and is more interested in Shakespeare than motorcycles. He uses his brains to earn money from the T-Birds, then buys a motorcycle and more-or-less becomes Rydell's own bike-riding, leather-wearing mystery man. Stephanie's smitten, Johnny's jealous, and half the school is talking about him. Michael's having some doubts about keeping up the charade, though, especially after Stephanie's interest in him leads to her estrangement from the T-Birds/Pink Ladies group.

The Song and Dance: It's too bad Caulifield's career hit a snag after this. He and Pfiffer actually work quite well together as the tomboy looking to break out of the mold and the intelligent Brit who thinks she's the greatest thing since Hamlet. Zmed's Johnny and Christopher MacDonald as his dim-witted buddy Goose are also pretty funny. I've always appreciated how Michael's adaption of the mystery man persona is a lot more gradual than Sandy's sudden about-face...and that he and Stephanie learn that he doesn't have to change himself entirely for her. She actually likes him the way he is, long words and all.

Favorite Number: Nothing tops the dynamic "Back to School Again," which besides being the best song in the film, introduces all the leads and perfectly sets up everything that's to be come. The bowling number "Score Tonight" and the hilarious "Reproduction" are also fun. I like how the Pink Ladies' "Girl for All Seasons" number in the talent show really does look like something a group of teenage girls would throw together for a high school show in the early 60's. "Cool Rider" is a long-time favorite in my family (especially since my stepdad actually did ride a motorcycle until recently), and Pfiffer throws her all into it.

Trivia: According to Wikipedia, there were some scenes cut from the film and lost, including one that shows how Rhonda really hurt her nose, Michael showing up as himself at the talent show, to Stephanie's dismay, and Frenchy going further into helping Michael learn to ride a motorcycle. I hope these turn up one of these days.

The script wasn't finished until well after filming began (which does explain a lot about the end product).

What I Don't Like: For every song that does work, or at least has a good routine going, there's two with awkward lyrics or bland or drippy music, including both of the solo ballads and the final number, the awful "We'll Be Together." Caulifield may have chemistry with Pfiffer and be easy on the eyes, but he can't sing or dance worth a darn. This is especially apparent in his clumsy "Charades" and when he's obviously watching his feet in the finale of "Together." While he was a jerk about it, Johnny was kind of right that Paulette's Miss June costume was really too risque for a high school show. I'm surprised she got away with it. And yes, the plot has pretty much been recycled from the original film. Even the "mystery man" twist can't do much to hide the feeling of deja vu.

The Big Finale: Critics continue to roast this movie to this day, and audiences remain divided. Some enjoy the cheesiness and the overall energy, while others think it's a travesty and a poor way for Pfiffer to begin her career. Maybe it's because I grew up watching this on cable frequently in the early 80's, but count me in the former category. While probably not at the level of the first movie, I think this is a bit underrated. Worth checking out if you love Pfiffer, the first film, or other school musical tales.

Home Media: My solo copy of the DVD is currently out of print; your best bet may be to pick this one up in a double feature with the first film.

DVD
DVD 2-Pack (with Grease) 
Blu-Ray 3-Pack (with Grease and Grease: Live!)