7-21-07, 11:25 am

Hairspray Directed by Adam Shankman


This is a toe-tapping, colorful and delightfully uplifting musical extravaganza which holds its own to the 1988 cult classic written and directed by John Waters. However, Adam Shankman's Hairspray apparently isn't a remake, but a 'reinvention' based on the Tony award-winning Broadway show.

Set in Baltimore in 1962, the story centres on Tracy Tumblad, a big girl with big hair and an even larger heart played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky.

Her passion is dancing and her dream is to appear on the teen programme The Corny Collins Show. Tracy wins a spot on the show, to the horror of the scheming local television station manager Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her obnoxious daughter Amber (Brittany Snow).

Tracy is an instant on-air sensation and, to Amber's horror, she's also a huge hit with Amber's boyfriend Link Larkin (Zac Efron).

Once a month, the television station holds 'Negro Day,' when black kids can showcase their dancing skills. But Tracy wishes that 'every day were Negro Day' and so leads a march with Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) calling for racial integration and ending up with an arrest warrant. The question is, will she miss the final dance-off against Amber and forfeit the Miss Teenage Hairspray crown?

Choreographed and directed by Shankman, this is a thoroughly enjoyable yet inspirational ride.

The opening number Good morning Baltimore, which is belted out by Blonsky on her way to school and ends with her singing on top of a rubbish lorry, sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

This high-energy comedy looks at how you don't have to fit in to win as well as the fight for racial equality back in the sixties. The latter is done sensitively while still hitting the social message home.

Eighteen-year-old Blonsky steals the film and, hopefully, like her predecessor Ricki Lake, will enjoy a very successful career in the industry.

John Travolta is scarily convincing as Tracy's larger-than-life mother Edna – to the point that you forget that he's wearing a fat suit – while Walken, Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah all give solid performances. Watch out for cameos by Lake and Jerry Stiller, who both appeared in the 1988 version.

Hairspray fans won't be disappointed, if the woman who sat next to me dancing and singing to the show-stopping numbers is anything to go by.

But, if you aren't a fan, it is still guaranteed to leave you on a natural high.

From Morning Star