15.9.07

Hairspray

I just got back from a late screening of Hairspray.

The problem with Hairspray is very much like the main character herself-big,loud and impossible to ignore.With a film dealing with a few fairly serious issues,the most notable being the racial segregation that parted society in the early 60s-you'd expect a bit of grittiness or realism,maybe not a full-on drama concerning the topic but a couple of subtle touches here and there would do,as to not merely include the heavy themes for the sake of having a plot,a problem to tackle,something to solve,or a song to sing-but instead something tangible,expansive and dealt with sufficient respect.

But no-everything is too squeaky clean,impeccably fixed to perfection like a soulless Stepford wife-things falls so neatly into place,the whole film's arranged to fit a 5 year-old's level of comprehension.Many subplots surface,allowing for a few arguments and sad faces-and every problem is ultimately resolved with a fancy song & dance,nothing more-in the end the film can effectively be summarised as a run of happy,sing,sad,sing,repeat to the point where the routine is so heavily infused with predictability that it starts to become uninteresting-and the ending similarly conforms to the dumbed-down format,that you'd probably see it miles before it's due.

The characters can't be too proud of themselves either-most are too one-dimensional and flatly written,with an exception of the main character (who's naive outpour of joy and blind acceptance reminds me of Reese Witherspoon characters circa 90's) and possibly Travolta's Edna-the rest of the cast are cardboard-thin additions,and in the entire time nearing to two hours none of them take human shape,become emotionally relatable or even have a real purpose or story to their presence-remaining trapped in their poorly characterised selves,ie. black guy with cool moves,teen heartthrob with kind heart,blond overambitious bitch,I think you get the picture.

But musicals often have a strong redeeming factor-exceptionally good music and/or choreography (Chicago),robust lead performances (Jamie Foxx in Ray,Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls,Liza Minnelli in Cabaret),gorgeous visuals and rich sets (Moulin Rouge)-and classics like Grease,Singin' In The Rain,Annie and The Wizard of Oz have heaps working for them-none of them have overly deep,adventurous or complicated plots,in fact-bio-pics about musicians in particular are often uninventive and trite (ie:bad childhood,rise to fame,gets involved in drugs/alcohol/adultery,big career fall,either picks up the pieces or dies) but we pardon these faults only because they're musicals,to give them the opportunity to fascinate and amuse us with any of the elements mentioned above-but Hairspray is a few levels below that,with it's overly formulaic approach and sheer cowardice to try anything new or different.

I don't feel insulted or angry (it's only a film,after all),but maybe a bit disappointed because this movie had so much going for it-the Hollywood heavyweights,namely Michelle Pfeiffer,John Travolta,Christopher Walken and Queen Latifah do best with what they're handed,their performances show they're doing their best with the material-despite the huge number of stars in this movie,it doesn't feel the slightest bit commercial or overblown-but at the end of the day,if you've got shit characters to begin with,there's a limit to what you can do.The songs in the first half are upbeat,lively and they put a large smile on my face,but then the second half strolls in-and as the element of surprise gradually wears off and the pace slows down slightly,things get very tiresome.

A poor effort,a waste of talent,a passable film.

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