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The fever “Hairspray” is spreading about seems to be contagious, but I never caught it while watching it. Most critics love it, while I’m more on the fence here. I’m not too crazy about it but in the end, “Hairspray” did have enough charm and spunk that’s it’s worth recommending. In a summer full of loud blockbusters, the film’s message “something different” is welcome. “Hairspray” is definitely loud, but at least it can sing.

It is nice to see some genres that were on the brink of extinction return to the big screen. Three musicals have been released in the past seven months (“Hairspray,” “Once,” and “Dreamgirls”) with another set to be released this fall (“Across the Universe”). Westerns are on the rise again too with the upcoming “3:10 to Yuma” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” It’s good to know there are people who care about the genres that made American cinema.

As Jennifer Hudson did with “Dreamgirls,” newcomer Nikki Blonsky leaves her mark as Tracy Turnblad, a chubby teenage highschool student living in Baltimore with the dream of dancing on a local TV show similar to “American Banstand.” Nikki is supported by her father, Wilbur (Christopher Walken) but not so much at first by her mother, Edna (John Travolta in a fat suit). When a dance position opens up on the “Corny Collins Show” (Collins played by James Marsden, “X-Men”), Tracy decides to cut school (an encouragement by Corny himself) and audition. Michelle Pfeiffer is perfectly cast as the rude and proud former Miss Baltimore and studio stage manager Velma Von Tussle, who rejects Nikki because she is overweight.

Sent to detention (a room always filled with black people, imagine that) for cutting school, Nikki meets a boy nicknamed Seaweed (Elijah Kelley, “Stomp the Yard”). These kids almost seem to want detention, seeing how there isn’t any adult supervision and all they do is have a dance-off. There’s a handful of scenes like this one that make “Hairspray” overly silly. As Nikki is bustin’ a move with her new friends, she is spotted by head dancer on the “Corny Collins Show,” Link Larkin (Zac Efron, “High School Musical”). Link invites her back for another shot and Corny Collins gets her a position on the show.

Nikki’s fifteen minutes of fame has begun and her puffed up hairdo becomes an instant fashion wave among teenage girls. Nikki finds herself competing against Velma Von Tussle’s daughter, Amber (Brittany Snow from NBC’s “American Dreams”) for the upcoming Miss Hairspray Pageant. That’s not the only reason Velma wants Nikki off the show, it’s also because she only wants skinny white people to dance on it.

The film has an A-list cast but it’s Blonsky, playing a girl who’s willing to sacrifice her dreams to fight for what she believes, who really stands out. Other cast members not mentioned before include Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, Nikki’s best friend. “Hairspray” goes a little too far with it’s ‘can’t we all get along’ theme when Penny unnecessarily starts a relationship with Seaweed. Penny’s over-religious mother is played by Allison Janney (TV’s “The West Wing”) who reminds me of the mother in the Stephen King movie “Carrie.” Queen Latifah plays Seaweed’s mother, known as Motormouth Maybelle, host of Negro Day on the “Corny Collins Show.” All of these supporting characters get a considerable amount of screen time and are very good.

The only cast member I wasn’t sold on was John Travolta as Edna. This is a part that raises questions like “Was his role planned all along or could they not find a woman to play Edna and just found the first actor willing to wear a fat suit?” Travolta tries hard to pull it off but I just wasn’t buying it and I think the film is at its lowest when he’s on screen. Christopher Walken was one of my more favorite characters as Wilbur (I didn’t know he could sing) and Michelle Pfeiffer couldn’t be better as Velma.

With the exception of Travolta, I think the cast as a whole really brought it home, especially with the final song. That scene is a particularly odd one because it’s the silliest in the movie, but the song (“You Can’t Stop The Beat”) is so good, “Hairspray” kinda goes out with a bang.

Ultimately the songs make the movie, which is given for a musical. Director/choreographer Adam Shankman does a solid job in that department. The bouncy, catchy scenes that break into song sort of replay in your head after you’ve left the theater.

Travolta’s character and the silliness of “Hairspray” hold the film down from where it should be. I found most of the jokes to come off the wrong way and I detected on a number of occasions the hint of sexual innuendo you would find in teen movies with phrases like “Every girl needs a stiff one.” Or maybe it’s just me, but there are a handful of lines like that one that sound wrong. On the contrary, there is an hilarious scene with Walken sleeping on a mattress filled with whoopi-cushions.

The film’s theme is ultimately about the Civil Rights Movements and is not limited to just black people, but to anyone who feels different from the rest of the world. Yes, the film is very silly but overall it does a solid job of tackling it’s discrimination issues and telling a straightforward plot while throwing in some great songs along the way. It’s a movie that could be much improved but it’s still not a bad summer treat.