Hairspray!

What sort of a weird cultural world are we living in where a movie becomes a musical and then becomes a movie version of that musical? Well, this world, of course.

I got to see 20 minutes of footage of the movie Hairspray today, at a special screening for potential distributors, media types, and socially active gay men right here in Toronto. The director, Adam Shankman, introduced the "Frankenmovie" as he put it - 20 minutes strung together - but I think I really got a taste for what this film will be like. It was fun, funny, packed with music, and features the single weirdest thing that John Travolta has ever done - and that includes Battlefield Earth. Travolta plays Edna Turnblad - he's the mother of the movie's lead - and no, you do not need to re-read that last sentence.

I am not totally certain what Travolta is doing here - he's not playing a man in drag, he's playing a woman, and a large one at that. It's a strange thing to see - surrounded by all sorts of stars who are playing their roles in a far more conventional fashion, he really stands out. Queen Latifah plays a sassy singing matriarch; James Marsden is a toothy pretty-boy; and Zac Efron is a teen dream. These are all like Evil Knievel versus the Axis of Evil - they're no-brainers.

But Travolta is a...housewife/laundress with a massive appetite? I guess one out of three isn't bad. Still, the movie does contain the line "I'd make every day Negro Day!" and I think that's worth the price of admission alone. In a very crowded summer, full of special-effects laden sequels, this one may end up being this year's The Devil Wears Prada: a campy, funny, adult alternative to all the special effect-laden sequels that are out there.