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A Brief History of Movies Based on Musicals Based on Movies
There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than referencing itself.
Kristen Bell and Ana Gasteyer demonstrate their formidable musical-comedy skills, and Alan Cumming plays a range of characters that includes both Beelzebub and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as a fearmongering lecturer presenting a screening of the movie in a framing sequence that remains sadly relevant. The story about white teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) leading the charge to integrate a local dance TV show in 1962 is a gross oversimplification of racial politics, but that’s also part of the point, showcasing the sunny cluelessness of privileged do-gooders. Even with the original performances of Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried to live up to, Renée Rapp and Avantika shine as queen bee Regina George and her dim-witted lieutenant Karen, and Moana ’s Auli’i Cravalho gives outsider Janis a livelier presence than the sarcastic Lizzy Caplan did.
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