In 1962 Baltimore, Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) is obsessed with The Corny Collins Show, dreaming of joining the cheeky host (Marsden) to dance in the studio with star Amber (Snow) and dreamboat Link (Efron). Her best friend Penny (Bynes) watches too, despite her disapproving mother (Janney). Tracy's mom (Travolta) and dad (Walken) are more supportive, but Amber's mother (Pfeiffer), who runs the TV station, has no intention of letting the short, chubby Tracy on the air, regardless of her talent. And she wants to get rid of Negro Night too, along with its host Motormouth Maybelle (Latifah).

The genius of Waters' original is maintained here, balancing outrageously colourful costumes and gravity-defying hair-dos with an extremely serious subject: the struggle for racial integration in the early 1960s. Adding music to the story works superbly, giving the characters a strong inner voice. And it helps that Shaiman and Wittman's songs are sharp and witty, as loaded with solid meaning and clever turns of phrase.

The cast are clearly having a great time with this material. Newcomer Blonsky is such a bundle of positive energy that we can't help but adore her as she carries the entire film on her skilled shoulders. Travolta is a little too self-aware in the showiest role, encased in a cross-dressing fat suit and camping it up gleefully. More subtle and even more effective are Pfeiffer, Latifah and Walken--they also get a chance to go for broke, but keep things a bit more grounded in between their more colourful moments. Meanwhile, Efron and Marsden are charm personified, while Bynes and Snow get to be both sexy and goofy.

Virtually everything about this film is a blast of fresh air, from the vivid sets and costumes to witty directorial touches, funny cameos and spectacularly enjoyable production numbers. And better yet, it's not merely light and fluffy. Besides a couple of wonderfully emotional numbers, the important historical context resonates strongly with similarly important issues today. Big, bold and beautiful, indeed.

themes, some language

28.Jun.07