Slashfilm.com has posted a review of a 20 minute preview they had of a "Franken Trailer" of Hairspray presented by director Adam Shankman. It consisted of footage including musical numbers, montages, and several sequences that weren't finished yet.
The footage began with newcomer Nikki Blonsky, who plays the lead character - Tracy Turnblad in the film, waking up to get to school. She misses the bus and is forced to hitch a ride. The whole thing is done in this wonderfully music number which is perfectly cut. You can see the love and time that must have gone into the story-boarding and choreography of this sequence.
The next segment followed Tracy and her best friend Penny Pingleton, played by Amanda Bynes, as they rushed home to catch the Corny Collins show on television. Tracy tries to convince her mother, played by John Travolta in a female fat suit, into letting her audition for the tv show. She of course says no, but her father, played by Christopher Walken says yes. If there is one trepidation I have about the footage I viewed, it would be the over the top performance of Travolta. His part seemed so out of place, and more like a gimmick than anything else. Walken is, well, Walken. You can never go wrong with him, even in the worst film.
We also got a glimpse of Queen Latifah (who plays Motormouth Maybelle) at a record store party. Tracy’s mom shows up an embarrasses her but is quickly appeased by the offer of food. The preview ended with a montage of slips from throughout the film, in trailer fashion.
When the footage ended, the whole screening room broke out in applause. I can’t stress to you how great some of this footage was. Shankman really went for it, with confidence, and without holding back.
Too bad they didn't say more about Amanda, but they liked what they saw and called "Hairspray" one to watch this summer!
