I'll admit right up front that I'm not a big fan of musicals. Sure, The Wizard of Oz is my favorite film, but it is a fantasy; I don't expect to be greeted in a foreign land by a Lollipop Guild (though how fun would that be?!) so I'm not thrown off by spontaneous songs in the land of Oz. My normal issues with musicals occurs when serious plots are interspersed with random acts of singing. This should have made me hate Hairspray, a musical about a girl trying to stop segregation on her favorite local dance show; but despite all my own prejudices, I found myself toe-tapping along for most of the two hour sixties explosion.
The main reason this third installment works (first was John Waters 1988 movie starring Ricki Lake, followed by a Broadway show still running) is that it doesn't apologize for being a bit ridiculous and over the top. There are serious issues brought to the forefront; mainly discrimination of others due to their appearance, whether it be the color of their skin or size of their waist; but it doesn't become overly preachy on the subject. Lighter in satire than the original film, there are still plenty of tongue-in-cheek comments and song lyrics that are refreshingly never spelled out, regardless of whether the teen or preteen target audience will get them.
Corny is as corny does for James Marsden, who plays the host of the "Corny Collins Show" except on "Negro Day", the last Tuesday of the month hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah). Tracy Turnblad (newcomer and recently arrested Nikki Blonsky) and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) can hardly make it through the slow clicking of the school clock before they can race to Tracy's house to watch the teenage dance show. Tracy's mother Edna (played surprisingly sweet and ladylike by John Travolta) doesn't enjoy listening to them squeal in delight as they see the head heartthrob Link Larkin (Zac Efron) but doesn't consider it quite the abomination that Penny's strictly religious mom does (hilariously played by Allison Janney). Tracy's dad, played by Christopher Walken, loves his big-haired, big-bodied beauties and supports whatever will make them happy.
Helping Tracy keep the beat without denting her 'do are the kids she meets in detention (for inappropriate hair height, of course), especially Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) who teaches her some moves that would make "pelvis Elvis" jealous. Along with his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks), he shows her what life is like on the other side of town. Tracy enjoys it so much she wishes "every day could be Negro day" on Corny's show. Talk like that makes her enemy number one for the antagonists looking to stop progress from happening.
The villains of the film are ice queen mother/daughter duo Velma and Amber Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer and Brittany Snow respectively) who make it real easy to dislike them. Luckily this is a musical, so all will end well and they will get their comeuppance (not really a spoiler...could the feel good summer hit of last year really end any other way?)
When the heat is up and your mood is down, this is a perfect video to rent to lift your spirits and keep you out of the summer slump at the August box office.
The main reason this third installment works (first was John Waters 1988 movie starring Ricki Lake, followed by a Broadway show still running) is that it doesn't apologize for being a bit ridiculous and over the top. There are serious issues brought to the forefront; mainly discrimination of others due to their appearance, whether it be the color of their skin or size of their waist; but it doesn't become overly preachy on the subject. Lighter in satire than the original film, there are still plenty of tongue-in-cheek comments and song lyrics that are refreshingly never spelled out, regardless of whether the teen or preteen target audience will get them.
Corny is as corny does for James Marsden, who plays the host of the "Corny Collins Show" except on "Negro Day", the last Tuesday of the month hosted by Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah). Tracy Turnblad (newcomer and recently arrested Nikki Blonsky) and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) can hardly make it through the slow clicking of the school clock before they can race to Tracy's house to watch the teenage dance show. Tracy's mother Edna (played surprisingly sweet and ladylike by John Travolta) doesn't enjoy listening to them squeal in delight as they see the head heartthrob Link Larkin (Zac Efron) but doesn't consider it quite the abomination that Penny's strictly religious mom does (hilariously played by Allison Janney). Tracy's dad, played by Christopher Walken, loves his big-haired, big-bodied beauties and supports whatever will make them happy.
Helping Tracy keep the beat without denting her 'do are the kids she meets in detention (for inappropriate hair height, of course), especially Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) who teaches her some moves that would make "pelvis Elvis" jealous. Along with his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks), he shows her what life is like on the other side of town. Tracy enjoys it so much she wishes "every day could be Negro day" on Corny's show. Talk like that makes her enemy number one for the antagonists looking to stop progress from happening.
The villains of the film are ice queen mother/daughter duo Velma and Amber Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer and Brittany Snow respectively) who make it real easy to dislike them. Luckily this is a musical, so all will end well and they will get their comeuppance (not really a spoiler...could the feel good summer hit of last year really end any other way?)
When the heat is up and your mood is down, this is a perfect video to rent to lift your spirits and keep you out of the summer slump at the August box office.
No comments:
Post a Comment