Film title:
Hairspray
Release date:
19 Nov
The filthy world of John Waters is the unlikely progenitor for this delightfully sunny musical based on the Broadway show adapted from the 1988 Waters' version that starred Ricki Lake. Newcomer Nikki Blonsky takes on the role of overweight Tracy who dreams of becoming a star on a popular TV dance show in '60s Baltimore, faced with the disapproval of her mother (John Travolta) and fatism from scheming producer Michelle Pfeiffer against a backdrop of racial segregation. Despite a dip in pace beyond the halfway point and a couple of bum tunes, Hairspray has just about everything you could want from a musical – winning performances, an endlessly cheery disposition, hummable songs, Christopher Walken dancing and Travolta in drag. You can't stop the beat. [Paul Greenwood]