Hairspray works so well as a musical that I can't remember anymore what it was like when it wasn't one. I last saw John Waters's original 1988 Hairspray  when it came out on VHS, and I remember really liking it because it was goofy and presented a rather ingenious way -- via comedy -- to stick up for minorities, be they black America or overweight America. It had a lot of dance sequences, too, but it wasn't a musical, yet the material lends itself so naturally to the genre I'm now surprised it took this long for someone to put the two together.

This Hairspray movie follows the rather strange new trend started by The Producers, in which an old non-musical movie is adapted into a stage musical, and then re-adapted as a movie musical. As one who prefers original ideas, I can't say I approve of the trend, but a movie like Hairspray seems at least an upward step. Much of the reason for the film working so well are the songs themselves, written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Essentially a collage of catchy '60's-style dance pop, I imagine it must've contributed strongly to the success of the Broadway show; thus, directly porting them to a movie would soundly set its foundation.

Adam Shankman, originally a choreographer whose movie directing track record frankly hasn't been impressive, is at home helming Hairspray, which is all about dancing and wears its heavier themes of desegregation and equality on the surface in the guise of silly, all-out irony. He thankfully doesn't subscribe heavily to the frantic editing style that has plagued a number of the recent dance musicals, and actually allows for moments of his choreography to display themselves. The large and lively cast each find a way to stand out, with the best possibly being newcomer Nikki Blonsky playing the main character Tracy Turnblad. My only complaint with her part is that there wasn't enough of it in the movie's finale.

While Shankman simply needs to make the performers look energetic and appealing, the original story and the songbook take care of theme communicating. Back in 1988, the idea of lampooning '60's segregation was applauseworthy, as the battle against discrimination was ongoing and, to me, one of the best ways to fight against prejudice is to make it look ridiculous and outdated. Today, the musical updates the movie and continues the trend by making segregation look even more ridiculous, not only because the passage of time has influenced the way we see discrimination (much of it is, indeed, starting to feel outdated) but also through its song lyrics. They're so chipper and straightforward about how right it is to be inclusive, you can't help smiling at the thought of how ahead of its time Waters's movie was.

If I have a gripe -- and maybe it's less of a gripe, more of a point that gives me pause -- it involves the implementation of the Edna Turnblad character. Why must she be played by John Travolta in a fatsuit? The original role was played by Divine, a drag queen and  cross-dressed star in many of Waters's movies. Perhaps the stage show and new movie are paying homage to Divine by continuing the role as a gender-flip, but why? It just seems to draw attention to the part as a gimmick, which is not what Divine, nor his character, was. The fat suit remains one of the more regrettable Hollywood props, and, what's more, the role could've gone to an actual plus-sized actress who could've made good use of the opportunity. Alas, it's just a slight blemish on an otherwise very entertaining movie.

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "PG" for language, some suggestive content and momentary teen smoking.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.