Hairspray
New Line Cinema | Release Date: July 20, 2007
7.6
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 265 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
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198
Mixed:
31
Negative:
36
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7
amheretojudgeOct 16, 2018
it bounces back to the top..

Hairspray Shankman's lurid take on the stage play, is by far his best work up till now, no matter how vague his execution grows. And the credit goes undoubtedly to the tale itself, that is so presumptuous andit bounces back to the top..

Hairspray

Shankman's lurid take on the stage play, is by far his best work up till now, no matter how vague his execution grows. And the credit goes undoubtedly to the tale itself, that is so presumptuous and narrow that it could have gone wrong within a snap, and yet is so deeply effective and layered that it bounces back to the top. This entire small town satirical metaphor town could not be more attention grabbing from its bright lights and light colors to the teenage world of as the title suggests, a world of bling and glitter fashion. Shankman's vision works because it celebrates its corny and one dimensional bubble and with that acceptance, he soars on glorifying each of these moments with a beat that makes you tap your feet and choreography that makes you groove. This teenage dream tale raises appropriate questions and widens its vision on simplistic terms that can definitely draw a genuine nod out of each viewer. The songs, the music, the lyrics, the dance, the glamour, the fame and the fashion each aspect is foliated into a narration which not only makes it adaptive and gripping but also efficient and layered. The performance unfortunately isn't upto the mark since there is not much range to factor in effectively by the cast where even talents like Pfeiffer, Walkmen and Travolta feels vulnerable. But since it's the "Grease" of the "Grease" movies, the point is to have fun without any guilt and on that terms the performance is aptly on the mark. Shankman's flamboyancy comes from the tale and not his passion of storytelling and it can and does get in between the flow of the feature at times. Hairspray may not be essential or a game changer, but what it is, is a Friday night club experience, that is just pure fun.… Expand
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7
DawdlingPoetNov 25, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a film adaptation of the musical by the same name, as featured on Broadway and Londons West End. It reminded me of Glee, in as much as the characters have a passion for music and for, I suppose, promoting equality for all. Yes it is quite 'Disneyfied', sickly sweet you could say and if you really don't like musicals then obviously this won't be for you but I found it entertaining and quite good as a piece of sort of optimistic escapism.

Practically every scene features a song, most of which are quite sentimental and optimistic. I felt it was nice to watch something that had such a positive feel to it in this day and age - given the way the US is apparently going politically speaking and such like. Of course the plot revolves around segregation and racial equality - a big issue in the 1960s and I think its fair to say that elements of racism still exist in the western world. To think that a few decades ago, people were separated in to different groups due to the colour of their skin, its quite unsettling. The film has quite an uplifting sound to it - its quite exultant, if that makes any sense?. I liked seeing the determination of the main character, Tracy - her assertiveness in being herself and not apologising for herself. She is played by Nikki Blonsky and her performance was, I felt, particularly good, coming across as sassy, determined and overawed at being given her five minutes of fame. Other cast members include John Travolta, who (believe it or not - it took me by surprise at first, thats for sure) plays Tracy's mother, Edna and Christopher Walken, who plays Tracy's father and joke shop owner, Wilbur and Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays Velma Von Tussle (one of the, lets say not so open-minded dancers). Also present is Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden and Jerry Stiller. I found the various musical numbers to be very catchy - it was hard not to move about while watching it. I dare you to watch it and not be at least tempted to wiggle about or shuffle a little!. A lot of the songs feature instrumentation, with pianos, drums, saxophones and so on in use. I'd say that most are mid-tempo, until the final quarter, by which point it is a little more subdued.

Obviously the main themes are inclusion and racial equality, plus I guess challenging depictions of communities in the media and assertiveness perhaps - that sort of thing. Yes you could say its quite a girly film but I didn't feel it was bad enough to really put me off continue watching. I had, prior to watching it, considered that this could be a film in which I find myself feeling bored, cringing and dying to watch something else while perhaps mid-way through it, so I was considering abandoning it, if I felt like that but I can genuinely say that I found myself enjoying it more than I'd expected.

Content wise, this film features little likely to greatly offend anyone. There are some instances of derrogatory language (mostly terms used to refer to African Americans, as you can probably imagine), some mild violence (some suggested, most not actually shown, not at all graphically anyway) and the ocassional sex reference but nothing at all explicit. For the record, it carries a PG rating to reflect this.

Yes I'd happily recommend this film. Its entertaining, features a good musical score and it covers important themes (equality/fighting racism). It also has a good cast and is pretty much suitable for family viewing, though very young kids may not be interested or fully follow the story perhaps.… Expand
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9
Dostoyevsky3Aug 4, 2021
Hairspray is a playful musical with eccentric numbers and a good message to elevate the already likable characters.
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9
MaxwooMay 28, 2022
While retaining the original John Waters' fundamental idea, the 2007 version of Hairspray added so many vibrant, engaging songs and dances that the entire 1960s Baltimore came to life.
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9
LuissDt2Nov 19, 2022
Crazy, nothing forced and not wanting to stop the beat, with these words I can describe Hairspray, a movie full of madness and kindness that brought out the best of Adam Shankman after making so many bad movies and obviously highlighting theCrazy, nothing forced and not wanting to stop the beat, with these words I can describe Hairspray, a movie full of madness and kindness that brought out the best of Adam Shankman after making so many bad movies and obviously highlighting the performances of Travolta, Efron, Blonsky and the entire cast in general… Expand
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