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| | Salesrank: 111003
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| Our Price: $5.47 |
| Used Price: $5.47 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Despite a gifted Anglo-American cast, Blow Dry strikes an uneasy balance between sentiment and camp. It aims for the same sort of high-wire act that Strictly Ballroom and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert pulled off so effortlessly, but melodrama wins the day. The comic moments are suitably over-the-top (as expected in a film about dueling hairdressers), but rarely as amusing as intended. The relationships between barbershop owner Phil (Alan Rickman), ex-wife Shelley (Natasha Richardson), and Sandra (Rachel Griffiths), "the other woman," could be more fully developed but are affecting nonetheless.
The setting is West Yorkshire. The event that brings them together is the British National Hairdressing Championships. Phil initially resists the urge to compete as it reminds him of the success he and Shelley once enjoyed, but his son Brian (Pearl Harbor's Josh Hartnett) convinces him to give it a go.
Hartnett and Rachael Leigh Cook (She's All That), as the daughter of Phil's old nemesis, seem like peculiar casting choices for a British film, but Hartnett's accent is passable (Cook plays an American) and they don't embarrass themselves as much as supermodel Heidi Klum, who plays a tacky, two-timing hair model. The screenplay is by Simon Beaufoy of Full Monty fame. Although not up to that standard--and certainly no match for Shampoo (the greatest hairdressing movie of all time)--Blow Dry is still a good showcase for the talents of its three leads. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Blow Dry Reviews:
Swept up with Blow Dry 
2009-02-23 - Blow Dry is a CANT MISS comedy with a bitter sweetness that you will enjoy.
With talented Actors like Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Josh Hartnett, this small British comedy about a hair styling contest with Romeo and Juliet overtones. Watch Hartnett and Cook shine in their roles. Rickman showcases he can do evil villians in Die Hard, then pull off this role as a stylist who is feeling lost in and from his craft
This interconnected stories of a family and friends of a hair cutting group. The small town gets the contest and starts the interpersonal relationships and rivaleries
If you looking for a special effect movie, pass this by. If you looking for a movie with a heart, similar to the small films like WEaking Ned Devine, Gregory's Girl or Fully Monty, this film is for you
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD
Cover is deceiving
2009-02-04 - "Blow Dry" is a charming movie about a hairdressing competition in a small English town. The cover shows the two young cast members, but the film really features--and would most appeal to--more "mature" viewers. The cast includes Alan Rickman, Vanessa Richardson and Bill Nighy. Ancient professional and personal rivalries surface. It's sweet and funny--a nice light movie.
Great cast and fun movie!
2009-01-25 - This was a fun movie. Alan Rickman was perfect in the role and it was a great setting for alight comedy. It gets a bit silly in parts but overall it's fun and touching.
Great sleeper of a movie 
2009-01-22 - Wonderful movie, directed by the late (and great!) Sidney Pollack. It has a terrific cast and the characters are beautifully written and wonderfully directed. Each time I watch it, I notice additional nuances in the performances, which are great all around.
BTW, the story is much more sophisticated & complex than the cover art suggests: the young photogenic stars on the cover (Hartnett & Cook) are very good in their roles, but the real stars are Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Bill Nighy, and Rachel Griffiths. Although the story centers around a national hair-styling competition and its impact on the inhabitants of the small British town chosen to host it, there are several subplots concerning the complex relationships between various characters - with some very moving scenes. The picture deals with terminal cancer, for example, but the ending is triumphant and the movie is very, VERY funny & uplifting. Watch it with friends who are not hardened and judgemental about same-sex relationships, or prudish, though -- it's campy at times.
Blow Dry
2008-07-28 - One of the funniest movies, we watch it over and over. I am a cosmetologist and it cracks me up. Definitly a keeper.
