Travolta's Back - and Having a Bad Hair Day ; the Remake of the John Waters Curio Lacks the Edge of the Original - but Who Cares? It's Great Fun

Summary

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Hairspray Cert PG, 116 mins .. ADAM Shankman's Hairspray is supposedly based on the 1988 film that pitched the Bard of Baltimore, John Waters, into the mainstream. But, though there are fleeting glimpses of Waters and his star, Ricki Lake, this new version has more in common with the sanitised stage adaptation that came later (and arrives in London later this year after scoring a hit on Broadway).

There's wit here, and a fair amount of entertainment to be had, but don't expect the feral spikiness of the original, as Shankman, a choreographer as well as director, aims to please the very audience whom Waters usually tries to shock.

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Travolta's Back - and Having a Bad Hair Day ; the Remake of the John Waters Curio Lacks the Edge of the Original - but Who Cares? It's Great Fun

He hits his target squarely, illustrating the style and absurd fashions of the early Sixties with a precision t...

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