Blow Dry

Ignore the U.S. cover box (as usual) & it's a treat
I recently saw Richard Curtis' wonderful 'Love Actually' and - having been bowled over once again by the bountiful comic talents of Bill Nighy and great work of the sloe-eyed, laconic Alan Rickman - wondered where to turn next to enjoy the work of these two fine actors.

The answer: "Blow Dry." Rickman and Nighy are fabulous as long-time rival hairdresser competitors in this campy but touching tale that tries very hard to get that unique "Strictly Ballroom" feel and camp/pathos/triumph balance. It falls just short of that, but it's a real treat nevertheless.

Unfortunately, judging from the irksome U.S. coverbox you'd never guess this was such a touching, well-written and intelligently humorous movie with a *very* talented cast - Nighy, Rickman, Natasha Richardson (!), Rachel Griffiths (!!). Now, that's an honor roll. With all that going for it, why, why, why do we get force-fed a marketing campaign featuring Josh Harnett and Rachael Leigh Cook? Harnett is...

Blow Dry: It's Not Just About Hair
Alan Rickman is fantastic in any role he takes on. In his role as a divorced hair stylist, who is still in love with his ex-wife who is a lesbian, Alan continues to amaze the audience with his multi-faceted talent. He touches your heart with humor, love, angered emotion and a yearning for what he knows he can't have; his wife. In the midst of it all is a plot that is both comical and tragic. This film had me watching it again and again and again. If you love Alan Rickman, you will love this movie as well.

EXCELLENT CAST BUT SOMEWHAT TEPID MOVIE...
This is a movie about a family divided, who are brought together at a crossroad in their lives by a hairdressing championship being held in their small town. The family, comprised of Alan Rickman and his grown son, played by Joshua Harnett, run the town barber shop and are estranged from their former wife and mother, played by Natasha Richardson. The estrangement came about ten years previously, when she ran off with their hairdressing model, played by Rachel Griffiths, a woman with whom she still maintains a loving, romantic relationship and openly lives with as a couple. Rickman, feeling that he had not only been betrayed but made a laughingstock, has not forgiven her.

Unbeknownst to them all, Natasha is going to die, as she has lost the war with the cancer that she has been battling. When she discovers that the big hairdressing competition is coming to their town, she hopes for a last bit of glory and familial reconciliation. You see, when she ran off with Rachel Griffiths ten...

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