I’ll start with him because he seems to be people’s biggest question.  Those who know me well know that I’ve never really liked Travolta.  I despise Grease, and can’t stand BeeGees music long enough to sit through Saturday Night Fever.  I enjoyed Phenomenon and Michael well enough, and I think he certainly has talent (especially as a dancer), but he’s always left a bad taste in my mouth.  But never have I seen such an iconic role (both from stage and screen) so well re-cast or re-imagined.  Travolta throws everything he has into the role of Edna Turnblad, mother to the heroine of the film.  He gives her such life and realism that the man-in-a-woman-fat-suit gimmick is pushed out of our minds with his first 30 seconds on screen.  You know it’s Travolta in there, but it doesn’t matter, because what you see is the character, not the actor.  Perhaps that was the appeal of the role for him.  He brings real heart to the film (as with Harvey Firestien on Broadway, one of the best stage performances I’ve ever seen), and makes the struggles and the liberations of the story personal, more so than the main character, Tracy, was ever designed to.

Tracy, of course, is the driving force and the symbol behind the story, but she truly serves as a focal point for the supporting characters to tell their stories.  We like Tracy, but she doesn’t have as much at stake as, say, the interracial couple of Penny and Seaweed, or Seaweed’s little sister Inez.  Tracy gets her joy from giving everyone a chance to live their dreams (something we all should do) and that is what the film, of course, is about.  Most movies today (at least, ones with happy endings) are about one character, or a group, reaching their goal, and it’s very refreshing to see a film where the main character helps everyone else reach their goals instead.  Perhaps that’s a bit sappy, but it’s one of the best aspects of this story.  Tracy’s heart is as big as… well, I can’t bring myself to make a joke there, but you get the idea.

Now, all of that aside, the film is not perfect.  It’s damn close, but not quite there.  It’s a shame that they cut the running time so short.  About an hour was cut from the stage version.  Some new songs were added, all of which worked wonderfully, but it’s just a bit too short.  The first act, up to the climactic march worked wonderfully (basically, up to intermission on stage), and had a good steady pacing.  Unfortunately, that left only about 25 minutes or so for the second act, which felt somewhat rushed.  They changed the plot to make it more believable, which worked fairly well, but it did require some creative revamping of my favorite song “Without Love”.  I suppose they thought that having Tracy break out of jail with hairspray and a lighter was just a bit over the top.  The climax of the film was pulled off spectacularly, though slightly more toned down (or less over the top) than what I expected.  But none of that detracted from the experience enough to matter much (just enough to keep it from an A+).

Where the great success of the movie (and unfortunately the tragedy of this story) lies is with the magnificent Nikki Blonsky.  She truly steals the show as the “pleasantly plump” star, and at this point is certainly deserving of an Oscar nomination.  She shines brightly as both a beautiful and talented actress/singer/dance and as a role model for girls of all shapes and sizes.  In case you were unaware, this truly was a dream come true for Nikki, the 18 year old from NY.  She tried out for Hairspray on Broadway when she was 16 and was told she was too young.  She was made fun of all her life because of her size and only wanted a chance to show the world what she could do (see any parallels?).  And as wonderful as her success is, the sad part is that it will probably be short-lived.  Our culture, and Hollywood as both a representation and a manipulator of it, is so image-conscious that a wonderful girl like Nikki stands no chance of having a lasting career.  Ask (almost) any male between the ages of 10 and 30 whether he would see a movie with Nikki as the star over, say, Megan Fox who is currently starring in Transformers and you’d get a resounding “No”.  Hell, ask any of them if they would go out with Nikki, or Tracy, and they’d say the same thing.  Is Nikki attractive?  Absolutely, but in our society your hipbones have to stick out a certain distance before you can have a chance.  Lately there has been a lot of debate about roles for older actresses like Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren, and how Hollywood is both sexist and ageist when it comes to roles for women.  While this may stand a chance of changing someday soon, Nikki’s problem, I’m afraid, is a lot farther from a solution.