HAIRSPRAY
A film review by Craig Good
Copyright 1988 Craig Good
This is the movie DIRTY DANCING could have been.
The death of Divine was made all the more untimely by his two-err de farce performances as both the bad guy and the heroine's hefty mother in HAIRSPRAY. While the young actress who plays his daughter is frighteningly good in her role, Divine dominates and sets the tone for one of the most enjoyably silly movies I've seen in ages.
Director John Waters serves up what may be the best 1962 movie ever made. This is what I call "Hang Ten" filmmaking: many of the scenes are right out on the edge without tripping over themselves. The soundtrack is easily the finest of its genre: it's impossible to tell which idiotic novelty numbers were written for the film and which were genuine Sixties issue.
The art direction, repleat with 65,536 colors not found in nature, compliments the bright, saturated photography. Some (Some? Try most!) of the wardrobe in this film will have you simultaneously laughing and reaching for the Dramamine. If you manage to retain your higher brain functions while slapping your knee, you just may notice a surprising amount of depth (I mean in the film, not the hairdos). While many movies shoot themselves in the foot trying to deliver The Message, ignoring Sam Goldwyn's advice about Western Union, HAIRSPRAY deftly pokes fun at The Message and still manages to deliver it. Of course, there isn't a moment of doubt about where the film's sympathies lay. It just doesn't go overboard in that department.
The greatest strength of the film is the casting. It's perfect. I mean there isn't a character out of place anywhere. Besides the formidable presence of the late Divine, we have Jerry Stiller as his husband, Sonny Bono and Debbie Harry as the White parents of The Spoiled Brat, and Pia Zadora (in her best performance *ever*) with Rick Ocasek in a cameo. Even Waters himself shows up as the technically up-to-date psychiatrist. He has described this group as a "dream cast", and explained that you don't ask for a Sonny Bono *type*, you ask for Sonny Bono.
The budget for HAIRSPRAY may be high for John Waters, but he clearly knows his craft well enough to deliver a lot of bang (and hairspray) for the buck. If you have any memory at all of beehives, cars with fins, or line dances then by all means check this out. If you choose not to see HAIRSPRAY the Council will see it as a character flaw and not let you in the club.
--Craig
...{ucbvax,pyramid,sun}!pixar!good
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