Hairspray

John Waters, USA, 1988, 91 minutes

Welcome to Baltimore 1963: home of the all singin', all dancin', all hair-hoppin' Corny Collins Show! In Hairspray, Ricki Lake plays the very dappy Tracy Turnblad, a "pleasantly plump" teenager, whose dream is to be on the show and strut her funky stuff on the dance floor.

However, Tracy also has to contend with her ever-ironing mum (played by Divine), exasperated by her daughter's obssesion for the wonderfully cheesy Corny Collins Show; her rival, the bitchy temper- tantrum throwing Amber von Tussle; and the show's producers, who are determined to keep the show racially segregated.

Will Tracy and her friends manage to get blacks and whites together on the same show? What will happen between Tracy and Link "look at my ridiculously badly acted knee injury" Larkin? And who will be crowned Miss Autoshow 1963?

Hairspray also features a host of hilarious minor characters, including Weird Beatnik Couple, jolly Mr Pinky (owner of the Hefty Hideaway Store), pushy pimple-popping mum Velma von Tussle (Debbie Harry), and the director himself as a laser cattle-prod wielding crazed psychiatrist, dragged in to sort out Tracy's even dappier friend, Penny Pingleton, when her mum discovers Penny's - shock! - black boyfriend, Seaweed.

Written and directed by John Waters (who also directed Pecker), this is a hilarious, immensely enjoyable, very very silly film, with more groovy tunes, funky dancing and cute quotes than you can shake a can of hairspray at. Wahey!

Review by Kim Woodruff
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2001