Good Morning, Baltimore!

Being a fan of John Waters' films, and Hairspray being one of my favorites, when the opportunity arose to preview the new musical, I met that with a mixture of excitement and worry. I knew the broadway musical was a hit, so I had both my fingers crossed, but as we all know, Hollywood has a way of messing up a good thing.

Not so with Hairspray. I loved every minute of the film. The score and soundtrack translated brilliantly. The cinematography brought 1962 back to life with accuracy, making this film a pleasure to enjoy.

Nikki Blonski starred as Tracy Turnblad and held her own against a veteran star cast, including John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken. Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron and Elijah Kelley provide excellent performances throughout the film

If you have never seen the Broadway show, or the 1988 John Waters film, you will thoroughly enjoy this film. If you have seen the 1988 Hairspray, you will get an insider's point of view on some of the scenes which were not gone into much detail in this musical version, but this in no way takes anything away from the enjoyment of this film. The main shift in this film is that more character development is allowed for in some of the roles which were assumed in the 1988 film. The part of Edna Turnblad was expanded here and John Travolta did an excellent job making this role his own, rather than simply stepping into the shoes of Devine, which would have never worked. Travolta was Edna Turnblad in body [sic.] and spirit. Travolta's "Baldimoor" accent was perfection of authenticity. I wanted to smack Michelle Pfeiffer, which his how well she played her role of racist bitch "Velma Von Tussle." Queen Latifah delivered vocal performances comparable to her role in "Chicago." There were several cameos during the film: See if you can catch them all.

So go and see this film! You're gonna love it!