Wednesday Morning

When I came back to Toulouse after my holidays in Taiwan and in Vendée, I saw quite a number of posters advertising for Hairspray, a new musical film. To be honest, the posters didn’t really push me to the theatre. Then, I saw the trailer and I knew this movie was made for me.

Hairspray is a musical film adapted from a Broadway musical, itself adapted from an older movie. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the film follows a “pleasantly-plump” teen named Tracy Turnblad as she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation (Wikipedia).

Hairspray introduces Nikki Blonsky as main character Tracey Turnblad. She’s just awesome. All the cast is, actually, and that’s one of the reasons of its success. John Travolta (Edna Turnblad) is far from his character in Grease. Michelle Pfeiffer (Velma von Tussle) is deliciously mean, Amanda Bynes (Penny) and Elijah Kelley (Seaweed) are simply made for each other. Queen Latifah (“Motormouth” Maybelle Stubbs), whose vocal talents I had discovered in Chicago, is simply Big, Blonde and Beautiful. James Marsden (Corny Collins) almost makes it natural to have his show sponsored by a hairspray company (though his engaging smile is worth a toothpaste advertisement too). As for Zac Efron (Link), he was made for the role and his acting is much better than in High School Musical (in which he was even doubled).

I have seen neither the musical nor the original film, so I won’t compare them. What is sure is I love the 2007 movie. It’s one of the funniest and quirkiest movies I’ve ever seen. It makes me love the 1960’s even more. And the music is awesome. When watching this movie, you just can’t prevent yourself from beating your foot. That’s the word. Beat. All you fancy is getting up and shaking.

Oh, and of course, I’ve bought the original soundtrack (one day my neighbours may kill me for that).