Hairspray (2007)

Very Cool!!!

the audience applauded

Fantastic!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

While there is certainly a lot to like about the movie version of the 2002 Broadway revisal of the cult 1988 John Waters hit, some of the rawness has been taken out in the favor of cuteness. Yes, it is still 1962 Baltimore, and racism is rampid for the Corny Collins Show where "Negro Day" is once a month and black teens are not allowed to be seen dancing on T.V. with the white kids. Many changes were made between 1988 and 2002, obviously because the producers wanted a more "family friendly" version of "Hairspray" on Broadway, and even more were made between the time the show won a ton of Tony's and the time that the movie was made.Still, the show focuses around "pleasantly plump" teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky in a star-making role) who can dance rings around the snooty Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow), stealing her boyfriend Link (Zac Efron) in the process. I guess it would turn any teen into accusing her rival of having "cooties" or being easy, but sympathy is there for Tracy the minute the film starts and she wakes up to wish Baltimore "Good Morning". Amanda Bynes is cute and adorable as the nervous Penny Pingleton who finds she has "chocolate fever" for the likable Seaweed (Elijah Kelley).The adults here are a mixed bag. I have to vote "thumbs down" for John Travolta's nervous Edna Turnblad, preferring the tough but vulnerable Divine and the raspy Harvey Fierstein. Travolta does really look like a middle-aged woman, but he tries too hard to make her soft when really Edna should be a lioness ready to scratch in order to protect her cub. Tracy seems more protective than vice versa, and that takes away from the strength of Edna's character. Bravo, however, to Christopher Walken as Wilbur who makes Edna's husband extremely likable and even sexy in a rough sort of way. Their duet, one of the showstoppers of the Broadway production, is well preserved here, and is one of the few moments where Travolta really does come alive in the part.For a "Grease"-like show, the presence of Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer ("Grease II") is quite ironic, although "Miss Baltimore Crabs" does remain one of the tackiest songs ever to be kept in the movie version of a Broadway musical. Pfeiffer takes her one-note character and has fun with it, but unfortunately, the one-note is sour because of the coldness which oozes off the screen every time she comes on. The amazing Queen Latifah shows that she is more than just a one-hit wonder when it comes to musicals, having rocked "Chicago", she now does the same as Motor Mouth Maybelle, and tears the roof off of "I Know Where I've Been", an anthem for freedom if I've ever heard one.The teens steal the thunder here though, and they are all truly likable and amazing. You want to see them all have their chance, both their fictional characters on "The Corny Collins Show" and the real performers, either on Broadway or in the world of pop music. Taylor Parks gets to do more as Little Inez than any other actor has had in that role in previous incarnations. The plot is altered a bit to try and make it more modern, but in retrospective, it really doesn't make sense, even if the surprise ending is touching in spite of not being true to the times.Still, you will want to "Stomp the Beat", not "Stop the Beat", as the music guides the movie into becoming a shining example of how movie producers can turn a Broadway show into a feel good hit. Alterations always needed to be made to bring in the non-theater going audiences, and some wise decisions were made. Ironically, the closing credits takes one of the cut songs ("Stop! Don't! No! Please!") right off the cast recording (with Harvey Fierstein obviously present) and helps give the film a nice feel at its exit.