Hairspray

Oh my goodness, I don't know what hurts more my cheeks from smiling or my toes from tapping. I was apprehensive to see the new movie Hairspray because I liked the original and its songs so much. I also love Grease so much that when I heard reviews that this was the "Grease for the younger generation", I felt like it was a slap in the face to my favorite. Well, after finally seeing it, the verdict is.......THEY ARE RIGHT! The songs (kudos to the amazing Marc Shaiman, who got my attention from his work with Bette Midler) were fun to dance too and the lyrics deliciously added to the screenplay. The casting of Michele Pfeiffer, Nikki Blonsky, Elijah Kelley, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes and especially the pairing of Christopher Walken and John Travolta as a couple was dead on and you could so tell that they were all having a blast filming. The only two drawbacks were that Brittany Snow and Zac Efron seemed like they were in awe of everyone around them and so didn't let themselves really take charge of their roles. Allison Janney was funny but the role was too small for her talent. It was wonderful to see Jerry Stiller, Ricki Lake and even John Waters himself be a part of both movies. I would gladly see this movie again. I give this two thumbs dancing to the top!