Rachel Griffiths & Alan Rickman strut their stuff

Chick 1 says:

I’d been wanting to see this quirky little British movie for several years.  It has an amazing cast & looked like the hairstyling version of Strictly Ballroom, a movie I love. 

Blow Dry stars Alan Rickman as Phil, a hairstylist in the small British town of Keighly, who was once an international hairstyling champion.  He now owns a dumpy barber shop where he works with his son, Brian, played by Josh Hartnett.  Phil, has not competed in 10 years since his wife, Shelley, ran away with his hair model, Sandra (Natasha Richardson & Rachel Griffiths).  Shelly and Sandra now own a salon in the same town.  The storytellers kick things off with an announcement that the international hairstyling competition is coming to Keighly and the revelation that a character has cancer, then sit back and let the madness ensue. 

Well, kind of. 

What I Liked: The cast does a fine job.  I adore Alan Rickman & especially love to see him in non-villian roles.  Natasha Richardson & Rachel Griffiths are great as always.  The surprise of the movie was Josh Hartnett.  Who knew he could actually act?  I guess I shouldn’t judge him too harshly as the only things I think I’ve seen him in are The Faculty and Pearl Harbor…and nobody acted in Pearl Harbor.  He also carries off a fine British accent although it does fade out occasionally.  Another favorite, Bill Nighy, plays a rival hairstylist and Heidi Klum, always fun, shows up a trashy hair model.

What I Didn’t Like: The movie seems to think it’s funnier than it is.  The pacing is slow and some of the jokes fall flat, mostly because you can see them coming from a mile away.  I found myself looking at the clock several times.  There were a few laughs but not many.  Also, the lower class British accents were really hard to understand.  That’s my own problem but still made the movie harder to enjoy.

Bottom Line: Populated with actors who are fun to watch but takes a lot of patience to get through.  It’s not nearly as funny or as entertaining as Strictly Ballroom.  Not worth a rental unless there’s an actor in here you absolutely have to see.