Hairspray

In 1988, the movie Hairspray became an unlikely mainstream success for cult director John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble), a man whose films were so outlandish he was once dubbed the "Prince of Puke." Even more surprisingly, five years ago the film was adapted into a big Broadway musical that is still running and has now inspired this new film version, which rocks the house! It's solid-gold entertainment with heart and soul—a rollicking winner in every way. The movie is set in 1962, when TV dance shows were all the rage. An overweight girl named Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), with a crush on one of the regulars, wins an unlikely spot on the show herself, which sets up a conflict with the show's resident dance diva Amber (Brittany Snow) and her conniving mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer). Things really get heated when Tracy decides to help integrate the pure-white-bread show with the initially reluctant help of her enormous but good-hearted mother, Edna (John Travolta!), her father (Christopher Walken stealing every scene he's in), and the spirited Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah). This socially daring (for 1962) and pertinent story angle gives this feel-good romp the unique flavor and rebel stance that sets it far apart in ambition from more mindless musicals set in the same era, including Travolta's own Grease. Beware, though, Hairspray is a musical. So if watching characters suddenly break out into song and dance ain't your thang, you've been warned.