Sublimely naïve yet boisterously entertaining, Hairspray may be the best movie musical since Grease. Its celebration of human tolerance, cross-cultural communication, desegregation, and interracial romance may be simplistic, but it is a simplicity enhanced by a light-hearted irreverence and a collection of infectiously toe-tapping show tunes by Marc Sherman (South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut). Adam Shankman stages everything with eccentric, enthusiastic flair (he directs and choreographs). No slice and dice MTV-style editing here, but a loving tribute to what makes the American musical great: strong material, excellent acting and singing, soaring highs and a climatic set-piece that made me want to dance in the aisle (don’t worry Arnab, I didn’t). Sure it lacks John Waters’ squalidly romantic nostalgia for the Baltimore of his childhood, but that doesn’t mean Hairspray–a campy, magical confection for all tastes–isn’t a supremely confident work of pop culture.
the possibility of your dancing in the aisles doesn’t worry me, jeff; i’m more disturbed by sentences such as these:
“Sublimely naïve yet boisterously entertaining, Hairspray may be the best movie musical since Grease.”
your middle name isn’t lyons, is it?
I hate musicals the way Gio hates action movies–barring a few wondrous examples (and South Park would be not so very far from Singin’ in the Rain‘s peak), I avoid ’em like the plague. I don’t even like it when characters hum. So when you say it’s the best since Grease, I carefully examine that text for any hint of irony, ’cause, aside from a couple great songs, Grease sucked. In a sucky genre. I’ll grant you that Jeff Conaway was never as good, but ahem. Should I and my ilk take that as a warning, rather than a recommendation?
No irony here (and my middle name happens to be Jeffrey). Hairspray is a lot of fun. Grease didn’t suck; it’s silly, naughty fun. Give me a break Reynolds, I first saw Grease as a sixteen-year-old (it was the summer movie of 1978) and its bawdy celebration of teenage hormones in overdrive was certainly appealing to this bookish wannabe. Indeed, I bought the DVD a few months back so I could show it to Cate and had to stop playing it as it is far more sexually licentious than I had remembered. Hairspray is naïve when it comes to racial politics, but it is damn entertaining (corny, sentimental, hilarious, goofy, high-spirited, well-edited, well-choreographed, well-acted, etc., etc.). It is from start to finish the most entertaining movie I’ve seen this summer (well, Die Hard 4.0 is pretty damn fun too).