MOVIE
With 2007 coming to an end quicker than an Edna Turnblad diet, this highly-caffeinated romp remains the best film of the year so far (see if that changes in our Best-Of Entertainment in our Year in Review issue, out Jan. 3).
You know the story: Chubby chick gets stint on variety show, shakes her shit to score a hottie, teaches big mama to live a little and racially integrates narrow-minded Baltimore. Thanks to "Hairspray" founder John Waters, who pops up during the peppy "Good Morning Baltimore" as a street flasher, for such a witty, quasi-campy and soul-stirring script. But without Marc Shaiman, the sonic mastermind behind the brilliant songs like the jolly get-up-and-get-out "Welcome to the '60s," this star-studded musical masterpiece would – well, it wouldn't exist.
And with John Travolta turning Divine's Edna Turnblad into a femme-ish, sorta-Southern-sounding fattie (hearing her say "iron" is downright gigglicious), or smiling from ear-to-ear when the infectious Nikki Blonsky (as Tracy Turnblad) takes a garbage truck to school, that'd be a damn shame.
Not to mention the sugar-coated finale: The sunny "You Can't Stop the Beat," an all-star dance-off with breathtaking belting from Queen Latifah, as Motormouth Maybelle, intercepted by a sassy spot from sparkly-dress-sporting Travolta. Just try not to move. Try really hard.
EXTRAS Wanna learn how to boogie to that Link Larkin rock-romp, "Ladies' Choice"? Check out the "Hairspray" extras which, in addition to how-to-dance instructions, also include commentary from director Adam Shankman and Blonsky and a behind-the-scenes peek at the dance numbers during "'Hairspray' Extensions." Still hungry?
Then skip to disc two of the "Shake & Shimmy Edition," a thoroughly-delish spread indeed. With a three-part documentary ("The Roots of 'Hairspray'") full of fab flashbacks, and nearly 10 minutes of axed scenes (including the unreleased, poignant Tracy number "I Can Wait"), the two-discer will leave any "Hairspray" fanatic feeling as full as Edna after a trip to Old Country Buffet.
Wanna know who taught Ricki Lake, who played Tracy in Waters' 1988 film, to walk in heels? Or why Lake was put on "fat patrol"? Then get lost in this plumper edition. Most meaty, though, is the "You Can't Stop the Beat: The Long Journey of 'Hairspray'" – a making-of featurette divided into eight chapters. See outta-drag Travolta belt like a woman – which, in itself, is reason enough to check out why the "Hairspray" DVD is such a big deal. In the most literal sense.
