June
29
Movie Musicals: Hairspray Review
I saw Hairspray last weekend and I don't disagree with the main points in Variety's review, although I clearly enjoyed the performances by John Travolta, Christopher Walken and Michele Pfeiffer more than this reviewer did. (That said, Travolta does not hit this out of the park the way you want him to, given who he is. His performance is restrained, muted, somehow.) Truth is, no one has ever played Edna Turnblad better than Divine did in the John Waters original. Ben Stiller's dad, Jerry, who played Wilbur, cameos in the 2007 version.
While New Line Cinema is nervous about opening this 60s period movie musical on July 20 against the summer onslaught, it should be effective counterprogramming because it is a total crowd-pleaser. It's the kind of movie that puts a smile on your face and leaves it there. And most important, after such duds as The Producers, Rent, and Phantom of the Opera, it should prove that the movie musical is alive and well. It works!
I will always have a fond spot in my heart for John Waters, not only because he's cool, funny, and a really nice man, but because when I worked for Film Comment back in New York, David Chute did such a brilliant job on his Waters profile that I fell in love with the writer who eventually became Nora's father. I never would have left NYC otherwise. Waters came to our wedding, and gave Nora the sweetest white knitted sweater when she was born. And I always look forward to the beginning of the holiday season, which is marked by his tasteless Christmas cards.
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Harvey Fierstein played Edna on Broadway, and he was sensational. Using Travolta instead of Harvey because he's perceived as bankable automatically makes this less than it could have been.
Posted by: cadavra | June 30, 2007 at 04:11 PM