Hairspray (2007)

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin (Zac Efron), much to Tracy's mother Edna's (John Travolta) dismay. Hilarity ensues after one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins (James Marsden) holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil dance queen Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer). Tracy then decides that it's not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of Seaweed, Link, Penny, Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), her father (Christopher Walken) and Edna, she's going to integrate the show.....without denting her 'do!

Trivia: Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray, appears as Mr. Pinky in this version. It took John Travolta four hours to put on the fat suit and make-up required for him to become Edna Turnblad. To facilitate filming for the "Run and Tell That" dance number, the production cut up a 1957 GMC transit bus into 9 pieces. There are 5 gel-filled silicone prosthetic appliances for parts of Edna's face. One day, while the cast was waiting between takes, John Travolta began singing "Summer Nights" from his first musical, Grease. Co-stars Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron were so excited that they immediately began sending text messages to their friends about what was happening. Amanda Bynes' character, Penny, is seen constantly eating lollipops. Her father, who is a dentist, became very worried for Amanda's dental health, as it was estimated she ate about 40 lollipops a day. Amanda told him that she wasn't really eating all of them, when in reality she ate them all. In a classroom scene a teacher mentions that Everest is not Earth's highest geographical point. She asks what the actual highest point is and there isn't time for an answer before the bell. The answer is Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador, which is the furthest point from the Earth's center, but closer to local sea level than Everest. (The Earth bulges at the equator.)

Okay, I get it, these ladies are fat. I understand that the movie is about the discrimination show to large women. I expected a lot of fat jokes. But I expected them from the "bad guys", the evil ones, the ones were are not supposed to like. I also understand that this is a comedy and as such there are stereotypes that get exploited and stuff but really. The movie lost a lot of my respect when Motermouth Maybelle was able to persuade Edna to let tracy stay and dance with the black kids. How did she do it? By pulling Edna over to the side and explaining that they were big and beautiful and that they should stand up against oppresion? Nope, she showed her the buffet. Visually the movie was bright and cheerful and the music and dance numbers were fun to watch. Amanda Bynes as Penny is probably my favorite character. Christopher Walken was fun too. And then there is Nikki Blonsky. She was upbeat, she was fun, she could dance, she was the star, the movie was about her, she made the movie. But this was her first role and because of that if you look at IMDb.com she is listed second? Third? Try eleventh behind Allison Janney who was on screen in about three scenes. Now let's talk about the character that didn't work. Edna. Everytime I saw her the first thing that went through my head was "hey, that's John Travolta". He never sells the character. You do need a little background on Edna though. She is always played by a man. It is traditional. The original Broadway Edna was Harvey Fierstein and it was Devine in the 1988 movie. I will admit that I have not seen either in character but I have always associated Devine with cross-dressing and I am pretty sure Harvey Fierstein could pull it off. Edna is meant to be played up and a little over the top, okay, a lot over the top but it just doesn't seem to work for me with Travolta.

Don't forget this weeks quiz. Get your answers in soon or regret it for the rest of you lunch break.