Celluloid Confetti

I recently snuck into a preview of the remake of Hairspray through the simple ploy of hiding inside John Travolta’s fat suit and peering out through his hair like a little racoon.

I’ll post my full review in due course, but I can exclusively reveal that it’s quite good, and should appeal to fans of the original as well as anyone who appreciates a feelgood toe-tapper.

Those who prefer ladies with a fuller figure will not leave unrewarded, and checkerboard chicks - or chaps - will find much to enjoy.

John Waters‘ 1988 original plucked Riki Lake out of obscurity (daytime TV owes Waters a great debt) and made a star of the magnificent, magnetic transvestite Divine (De Niro to Waters’ Scorsese) shortly before he passed away.

For the uninitiated, Hairspray tells the tale of Tracy Turnblad, whose dumpy radiance lights up dreary Baltimore like a candle, and whose dreams of dancing on her beloved Corny Collins Show suddenly come true.

But the Corny Collins Show is segregated, and the show’s evil producer (Michelle Pfieffer, who seems to be carving out a niche for herself playing bitches and witches) wants to keep it that way - and she’s not too keen on having a fatty like Tracy eclipsing her daughter, also a dancer on the show.

Can Tracy fulfill her goal of making “every day Negro day”? Will she coax her mother out of the house? Is big really beautiful? Will Sonny Bono have a cameo?

Watch and find out!

What made the original Hairspray a truly great film was the way it tackled the problem of segregation head on. The new version is similarly bold, but, in a paean to modern concerns, gives equal weight to disseminating a fat-positive message which, if I remember, the original film took rather more for granted.

Fat, it seems, is the new black.

Of course, Hairspray is not technically a remake, but a film adaptation of the Broadway musical, itself a stage adaptation of the 1988 original. It’s the same torturous path that connects the fun-but-unsuccessful The Producers (2005) back to the superlative The Producers (1967).

I quite liked the new version of The Producers, but I reckon Hairspray will do much better. The cast are terrific; Christopher Walken gets to cut a rug, Jerry Stiller gets a cameo, and newcomer Nikki Blonsky is perfect in the lead role.

My only qualm was with John Travolta, taking Divine’s place as Edna Trunblad. At first, the voice and the fat suit really didn’t seem to fit, and I found myself gaping with slow horror every time he appeared on screen.

But, like a giant latex boulder, his performance seemed to gather momentum, and by the end of the film Edna Turnblad had stolen the show.

So my prediction is that Hairspray will be a hit, and will inspire countless imitators. But we’ve already had Grease and Hair so what does that leave?

Pomade, a Rock Opera?

Mullet: The Musical?

We can only imagine.

But if they are going to do any more musical remakes, my personal choice would be one of my top five films ever, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

They already have the songs. Think about it.