Hairspray (2007)

First it was a film. Then it became a hit Broadway musical. And now, it's a film again.

This adaptation of the stage musical by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (with book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan) - which was itself an adaptation of an earlier film by John Waters - features an all-star cast and many memorable song and dance numbers.

The year is 1962. The location, Baltimore. Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) is a girl with a dream. She wants to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a music program for young people hosted by - you guessed it - Corny Collins (James Marsden). Unfortunately, her mother (John Travolta) doesn't think it would be a good idea. And she's not the only one.

The show's stage manager (Michelle Pfeiffer) also doesn't want Tracy on the show, because she doesn't think it would be good for ratings. But she couldn't be more wrong.

With the help of her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) and her teen heartthrob crush Link (Zac Efron), Tracy manages to secure a spot on the show, and ratings go through the roof.

Now Tracy wants to use her influence to get people of colour on the show with the white people (Remember, it's 1962, and segregation was still very much a part of American society). The show's co-host (Queen Latifah) who is usually only on screens on so-called Negro Day, gets behind Tracy's cause and vows to fight with her to see people of all colours and creeds represented together on screen.

I won't go into any more detail than that on the plot, but I do want to mention other notable cast members. Christopher Walken does an amazing job as Tracy's father; we all know he can dance, but I don't think we've heard him sing before this (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that). Allison Janney plays Penny's mother, and does an okay job of that (it does feel like a character she's played many times before though).

All the songs are catchy enough to find yourself humming them after the film is over (as a musical should be), and the dance numbers are beautifully choreographed.

At the time of writing, I have not seen the original John Waters film, but as this is a review of a musical film, not an adapted film as such, I don't know that that is necessarily an issue.

This film is a lot of fun, and has a very serious message behind it, too. A great way to spend a couple of hours, especially if you know the songs and can sing along.

7 out of 10.