Hairspray (2007)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The opening was great and emerged self-confidence inside me. And the story was good actually. Somehow, something's missing here and I'm not quite sure what that is. Is it because it tells the story of the '60? I don't think so. Chicago's setting is away later than this and I love it so much. Mmm, maybe it's the songs??? Well, I guess they're really not my fave. Yet I'm happy enough to find that this movie is not telling the story of beauty salon as I've predicted from the cover and the title 😋😙 Queen Latifah is here and she's a lot skinnier than in Chicago. But I like her better in Chicago. And I don't see something special in John's acting besides the fact that he acts as an obese woman.

The movie overall was very entertaining and fun to watch. I enjoyed the singing and dancing, it was very catchy and had me laughing at times. I chose to watch this movie for a movie assignment for my APUSH class because I knew it would be upbeat and exciting and Zac Efron was it in so that was a plus. What I enjoyed the most was how the movie depicted how the white people were slowly accepting blacks. It was absolutely amazing to see the blacks and whites dancing together at the end with the crowd cheering. It shows how segregation had come a long way from the past and was leading to brighter futures for black people. The way the black characters held themselves strong and unwavering in the film, was inspiring that even though they were being denied rights and being treated unjustly, they didn't let it bring them down. A lesson to us that even in our deepest struggles, we can't let them bring us down or hinder us from achieving our goals in life. Enjoy the film!

Director Adam Shankman gives a brilliant performance of the hit musical Hairspray. The Cast features numerous big named actors and actresses that give outstanding performances. John Travolta took on the daunting task of playing the MOTHER of young Tracy Turnblad and he blows the character out of the park. Queen Latifa does a great job of capturing the powerful, ambitious, and determined civil rights advocate of Baltimore, Motormouth Maybelle. Nikki Blonsky also does an amazing job making her debut as the tenacious Tracy Turnblad. Aside from the cast the overall storyline was also outstanding. The mix between the determination the characters have towards integrating the Corny Collins show and gaining Civil Rights to the adolescents overcoming adversity. Overall it was great.

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.