by Manny The Movie Guy

Created on: October 20, 2007   Last Updated: December 14, 2009

The new version of "Hairspray" is a hybrid between the original John Waters film and the 2002 Broadway production. But the new movie retains the emotional core of its source a young outsider who tries to fit in a society that doesn't want her.

That young outsider is Tracy Turnblad (the impressive newcomer Nikki Blonsky), a big girl with big hair and even bigger heart whose one and only passion is dancing. She wants to appear on "The Corny Collins" show, Baltimore's hippest dance party on TV. But there's only one problem her rotund figure is not exactly dance-show material.

The film is set in 1962 when TV and the world were viewed in black and white. Whites were given the privileged slot on television, while blacks were only allowed on "negro day." Tracy is being called a "chunky Communist girl" because she truly identifies with the "black folks."

Her overly-protective plus-sized mother, Edna (the wonderful John Travolta), does not want Tracy to join the dance show, but her father Wilbur (Christopher Walken) tells her, "Go for it! You've got to think big to be big." So when big hair meets big dreams the result is a high-energy film that will leave a smile on your face from start to finish.

"Hairspray" followed two traditions seen in both the 1988 film version and the Broadway musical the role of Tracy has always been played by an unknown talent, and Edna has always been played by a male actor. First, Waters discovered Ricki Lake and partnered her with female impersonator, the great Divine. Then on stage, newcomer Marissa Winokur donned Tracy's wig and became daughter to Harvey Fierstein's Edna. Now, Blonksy and Travolta sing and dance as the pleasantly plump daughter and mother duo.

When I first heard Travolta was going to play Edna, I groaned. I thought he would overplay the role, and miss the heart of the character. But I was wrong. Travolta deserves to receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination for disappearing inside his fat lady suit and showing a brave and brilliant performance as the mother who lost and eventually found fun, thanks to her dreamer of a daughter.

All the main supporting actors have their own shining moments. Michelle Pfeiffer as the vapid, racist Velma Von Tussle glitters in the number "Miss Baltimore Crabs" and Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle shows passion when she sings her anti-segregation number, "I Know Where I've Been."

But the movie belongs to Nikki Blonsky. She is the Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls") of this year. Blonsky, a

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