Not a direct remake of the 1988 John Waters film, but a restaging of the 2002 Broadway-musical adaptation of it. (Waters gives his blessing to the enterprise in the form of a walk-on part as a flasher.) The show tunes, in place of well-selected oldies, don't really add a lot, though they're in the right key for the 1962 period. Nor is there much benefit from the stunt casting of John Travolta in a transsexual latex fat suit, in the role originated by the actual transvestite, Divine. And naturally the film is not as "personal," and deserves no credit for following Waters's blazed trail to socially conscious fun. It deserves much credit, however, for the discovery of the "short and stout" Nikki Blonsky, a sort of plus-size Brenda Lee in the lead role, a teenage rebel fighting discrimination on two fronts, racism and fattism. She, for most of the way, carries the brunt of the load with the best of cheer. Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley, Brittany Snow, James Marsden, Alison Janney; directed by Adam Shankman. (2007) — Duncan Shepherd