The universally spectacular ensemble cast each boast both wonderful performances and impressive singing voices, really bringing the film to life with particular flair and style. Such an unflinchingly feel good film might be the sort to stir up contempt in some of its more jaded viewers, but Hairspray always seems so brightly genuine that it avoids syrupy cliché, culminating in a satisfyingly touching film. But as well as visually, the film also thrives on interpreting some of the most valid social issues of the decade, including racism, and other such prejudices against the social norm in a particularly cheerful and uplifting way, making Hairspray one of the most morally sound musicals to grace the screen in quite some time. From the candy coloured costumes to the massive hairdos, the film gives the impression of immersing the viewer in a Technicolor throwback of forty years. Apart from the unquestionably impressive song and dance numbers, the film also proves a rousing success in capturing the look and feel of the sixties in a particularly vibrant fashion. For a film so shamelessly fun as this, the occasional imbalance of plot or lapse of logic seem only natural, and are easily forgivable when there is so much else to appreciate going on. And while the plot may stumble and come across as a bit jerky at times, Shankman keeps the pacing and energy so consistently on overdrive such complaints seem trivial compared to the sheer ballistic exuberance on display.
The choreography is consistently superb, and director Adam Shankman's past experience in the field really shows - the innovative dance moves certainly scream of the sixties. Unlike many other movie musicals, whose song and dance numbers more often than not seem stiff and forced, Hairspray's crackle with kinetic vitality and genuine life.
However, despite the number of stage musical adaptations of late, the quality of the productions is by no means receding, and if anything, increasing, as Hairspray proves one of the most shamelessly jubilant and infectiously enthusiastic efforts to date. Following a slew of other such stage musicals turned movies, one might expect Hairspray to have simply jumped on the cinematic bandwagon, and have little to offer, save being 'that new movie musical'.
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