I can still hear the bells!

a film review, no thumbs, no objctivity, lots of enthusiasm by scaramouche, the po(t)et, #1 film lover & musical fanatic

This is the story of a film that was made into a stage musical upon which another remake of the film was based. It features laundress John Travolta in drag, married to owner of a fun-articles shop Christopher Walken, a rather simple-minded man, an odd couple (to say the least!) with an overweight daughter whose consumption of hairspray bottles seems somewhat overblown, who on her hand is in love with the lead character of High School musical, here a dancer on a segregated, although extremely popular local TV show, lead by one of the X-men, featuring Mama Morton (informally known as Queen Latifa) with a blonde wig, along with a bunch of Hollywood's teenage-fanclub idols (Brittany Snow and Amanda Bynes), The King of Queen's father-in-law (Arthur!!!), Michelle Pfeiffer doing her own singing, and for the moment posing as an evil-kinievel racist who is head of the channel that hosts that extremely popular TV show, plus a wannabe-Supremes trio who are mostly present through computer animated movie posters around on house walls.

It sounds really, really absurd. And it is. But it's not at all as bad, as it might have seemed. On the contrary, it's an unbelievably well-acted, stunningly performed, amazingly sung, fabuluously funny and in a word to sum it all up: brilliant show. Albeit with a traditional, yet high-class story. (Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) hates school, wants to quit, and instead to be on Corny Collins' TV show, which is what every other teen in town does too. She endures a series of dramatic events on the way, as she pursues becoming Miss Hairspray, launching a campaign against public racism and segregation with mentor Maybelle (Latifa), and winning the hearts of people all over the country, in addition to that of loverboy Link Larkin (Efron), finally challenging the dominion of sinister boss Velma von Tussle (Pfeiffer) AND improving the self-confidence of insecure mother Edna (Travolta), fixing the stranding relationship between Mum and Dad (Walken) and pairing up best friends Penny (Bynes) and Seaweed (Kelley) somewhere in-between.)

First of all, the original film wasn't too bad (it had Debbie Harry and Sonny Bono, come on!) and the musical that originated from it was - according to my reliable source and friend, Grete, who accompanied me to the theatre - truly terrific. Won a TONY-award, for the record, and most deservedly so. Furthermore; first, foremost and in the role of his lifetime: John Travolta isn't ridiculuous, he is utterly charming and lovable and sympathetic and he sure as hell could be a mama to me - anytime! Christopher Walken is superduper, always, especially when he dances; which, in this film, he does A LOT. These two the best on-screen couple I've seen in a loooong while and the "Moulin Rouge"-sequence with clouds and tango was to die for. The "fat girl" is, in reality, the incredibly talented, basically adorable and genuinely sweet Nikki Blonsky who can sing her rail-thin colleagues off the stage anytime. Plus, she and Travolta wear matching glitter dresses, accesorized with pink hairbands, mimicing the exact outfit that Rose wore in "Idiot's Lantern". Zac Efron, on his side, proves he can actually do something useful and get away with it more than handsomely. Snoggable indeed! James Marsden, too; Mr. Sexy Glasses; who dances like the devil, although kind-spirited as ever. Brittany Snow should get on Broadway, pronto, and stop being a bimbo. Amanda Bynes should quit Disney channel and work on her new image of a sensible self. With or without pigtails. Should team up with darling Elijah Kelley, though, I have a strong feeling she needs a sidekick to bring out the best in her - and my God, he did! Next there was Arthur; not the best character, but one of the most recognizable, he was very much like himself and proved a surprisingly amusing element. Michelle Pfeiffer is a old-style, top of the world star, and at times she outshone the rest of the cast by miles. Needless to say, I'm a fan. And whoever could play that part and not be disgusting? I don't know how the woman manages. She is gorgeous, even when she's gruesome! And she can sing! Just like the "big, blonde and (truly) beautiful" Queen Latifa, who's got a pretty name, an even prettier voice, and another one of whom this writer is now forever a really, really BIG fan(atic)!

Generally speaking, it was a trip of a lifetime, a moment to cherish, a walk to remember, a bunch of songs to have permanently stuck on one's mind for the rest of time; all in one. At the end, you're left with a sensation of the creators' wanting to take the most scary, stupid, suspicious, non-promising plot and crew they could come up with and actually work some magic to show what great craftmanshipo can do to a film, and how even the craziest of synopsis can become a dream come true. Another way of seing it is, due to fact that there are no famoud catch-phrases and hit-songs, like Phantom's "Music of the Night", they needed to come up with a context, a concept and a cast so thrilling, they could give proper colour to the otherwise superb, but slightly anonymous songs. Still, the music was rhythmic and stylish and wonderful, throughout - with one personal favourite being "I can hear the bells" - and the finalé was appropriately oversized (literally; GO TRAVOLTA!!!) and dramatic; as was the rest of the exciting film. It's stuffed with proper, good morale; say no to racism, ignore the unjust authorities, take any chance and go for it - even though people try to tell you you're not good enough, mix cultures and enjoy life, just as you are, and most importantly; BE, love and show off who you are! Proving, also, that MIKA's right: big girls are beautiful. This is, moreover, a happy musical; similar in nature to "Grease". Which means there are no heart-wrenching parting of the ways, no tear-dripping exchanging of rings, no Scotsmen to feel sorry for, in particular, and no Angels to mourn for whatsoever. Just a whole lotta pure adrenalin kicking FUN! I was jumping off my seat, I was clapping, I was cheering, I was laughing, I was shaking my head and pinching myself, trying to believe what I saw was real. And blaming myself for having been a little sceptic beforehand. That siliness was blown away, however, with the very first scene. It never returned.

I absolutely love "Hairspray", with all my heart, it's - beyond doubt - the best film of the year, it's got one of the best castings in history; you don't even have to like musicals, or watch musicals on a regular basis, to enjoy it - and hence I will recommend it to everyone. EEEVEERYY-OOONE!!! Never stop this beat!