Hairspray (2007)

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

John Waters's classic cult flick, Hairspray, is presented in a third, modernized iteration. This wildly popular movie originally starred Divine as a mother and now has John Travolta reprising Divine's incredible role. Both play tragically overweight mothers that you just want to love back into their own beauty and grace.Travolta won me over, surprisingly, as Edna Turnblad. Her daughter Tracy, played by Nikki Blonksy, is utterly adorable and, damn, can this actress sing! Usually creepy Christopher Walken also surprised me as Tracy's absent-minded, sweet, and kind father, Wilbur Turnblad. I know, I know: Walken, no less! Michelle Pfeiffer plays the powerfully blond and powerfully overbearing boss (and another B-word) that everybody hates and does it flawlessly.Queen Latifah is spectacular (astonishing voice, comedic timing, and awesomeness!) and so are the actors who play her children, Little Inez (Taylor Parks) and Seaweek (Elijah Parks - what a voice!) Zac Efron and James Marsden are oh-so-sexy as they dance, sing, and charm. Amanda Bynes plays Tracy Turnblad's kooky and steadfast BFF. Allison Janney, as always, well plays the hyper-religious Catholic mother of Penny Pingleton (Bynes).Marc Shaiman's music repeatedly tears the roof off throughout this fabulous and ingenious new cult classic of musical theater. I've not seen or heard a musical score in ages so powerfully orchestrated and presented, nor voices so persistently clear and strong, nor lyrics that have meaning and reach across every conceivable division or perceived division in our often blessed and frequently bewildered species.This movie belts out the true meaning of love, inclusion, and diversity. Bravo, a thousand times so!

This movie takes a fun and enjoyable path on educating people of the horror of discrimination of African Americans. Throughout the movie Tracy and her best friend Penny attempt to integrate the Corny Collins show. African Americans are only allowed to perform once a month and Tracy does not believe it is fair. When Tracy gets a spot on the TV show she sees a chance to make a difference. She marches with them and even messes with the dance finals near the end of the show. Penny also ends up dating one of the black dancers. This movie shows society that African Americans were treated very unfairly not too long ago, but not every white person felt that it should be this way. It showed that some people were willing to stand up for them even though it was only a minority. People were very mean to people who tried to help the African Americans. When Tracy tried to stand up to the racist people at the movie set she was kicked off the show. This showed how people would discriminate against you if you wanted to go against society. Overall, this movie was great. I truly enjoyed it. While at some points it could have been trying too much to poke fun at something so serious, it was still a good eye opener for today's generation.

Hairspray is based on a Broadway musical of the same name that starred Rikki Lake and tells the tale of a young girl named Tracey(played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky)who lives in Baltimore with her parents(played by Christopher Walken and John Travolta(yup im really not kidding here but John was done up in drag as a woman in this movie crazy right).Tracey dreams of starring in the Corny Collins show which is hosted by Corny Collins(played by the lovely James Marsden)and drags her BFF(best friend forever) played by Amanda Bynes to help her get on the show. But of course there is competition with Michelle Pfeiffer and Brittany Snow's characters who would do anything but to be in the Corny Collins show and ruin Tracey's dream to star with Corny Collins and a hunky guy called Link (played by High School Musical star Zac Efron who looks like a young Elvis Presley I must say in this movie). So will Tracey's dreams of starring in the Corny Collins show come true and can she help Queen Latifah's charcther a spot at the Corny Collins show too?Bottom line is this, its a feel good musical to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon with some catchy songs (that will have you humming or not)and a great supporting cast from John Travolta as Edna (in drag),Nikki Blonsky,Zac Efron,James Marsden,Amanda Bynes and co. SO do I like it sure its a good flick,its not the best film in the world but I enjoyed myself watching it.Overall its a 7/10

If you enjoy light-hearted, family friendly, fun movies, then the musical Hairspray is the movie for you! Like every movie, there are always negative and positive sides of a film. This particular movie has many features and factors that make it a worthwhile watch. Hairspray is about a young girl in high school that has a hard time fitting in but ends up making important decisions that affect her life immensely. In this movie, Tracy, the main girl, decides to audition for a dance and singing show that is popular among the town. Throughout the movie she realizes that the TV show she stars in has segregation between white and black people; she uses her popularity from the show to change that. Each actor and actress the director chose for the movie play the parts well. In this movie the director chose big name actors and actresses such as Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Brittney Snow, and John Travolta to help make this a successful and shining movie. This film was based off of the 1988 version made starring Ricki Lake and has now been made more modernly. Although this film isn't an original, there is definitely originality in the plot as this movie has much controversy between the colors of skin, which was a true phase in American history. With the history used, the director of Hairspray made the movie very entertaining with a deep, historical background of the past. Adam Shankman, the director, did a wonderful job producing the movie. He knew how to film at certain angles, focus in, and edit the material. At the start of the movie one can already see some of the camera techniques this movie uses. One common method used is focusing on the main character(s) and blurring the surroundings where the scene is being shot. Each transition from scene to scene has been done smoothly. In most movies, the scenes have many fade-outs and black outs, however, Hairspray didn't have as many of these techniques. There transitions simply jump over to the scene except in doing so it's almost unnoticeable. The development of this movie increased throughout the film. Just looking at the script alone without the movie made yet was a work of art. The scriptwriter really used diction and syntax to emphasize certain points. For example, a word used often in the film is "Negro." This word in today's society is not tolerated so hearing the word in the movie built a strong statement. Another big factor that helped shape the movie is the costume design. Costumes in any movie help develop the characters and define their personality. The white people in this movie wear fancier and simple quality clothing while the black people wear colorful and fun outfits. For example, in the show when both groups sing "The New Girl in Town" the whites wear simple dresses with their hair done up neat while the blacks wear tight orange dresses with wavy flowing hair. Hairspray has many up beat and fun loving scenes with great sing-along songs. This is a famous movie that should not be unseen. This movie points out an important historical controversial event and helps show that people can make a difference. This is a movie for all ages and welcomes anyone who wants to watch it.