Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

bkoganbing Hairspray both this version and the new 2007 one are a pair of great satirical films about teenage mores in the early Sixties of the Civil Rights Era. Sometimes our heroes and heroines for civil rights and human decency can be found where you least expect.Such a person is Tracy Turnblad played by later television host Rikki Lake who's a full figured gal in every sense of the word. Her biggest desire growing up in Baltimore of the Early Sixties is to get on the local teen hop show hosted by Corny Collins. The regulars who dance there have a celebrity status, but something a fat girl dare not hope to dream.Tracy doesn't hope, she lives the dream and actually gets picked to dance and be a regular to the distress of plastic teen princess Colleen Fitzpatrick. But it's a cause for celebration for Tracy's parents played by Divine and Jerry Stiller and her best friend Leslie Ann Powers.All this is against the background of the civil rights era and Baltimore had its problems also. The Corny Collins show is segregated with a prescribed Negro Day once a month. That seems as bogus to Tracy as baseball being segregated not too long ago and she joins the fight to integrate the show. She's even convinced her teen dream new boyfriend Michael St. Gerard to join in as well.A subplot is Powers finding love herself in the person of Clayton Prince who is black and that's upsetting to a lot of people, not the least is Powers's mother. It would be within that same decade that the Supreme Court did away with miscegenation laws, so these kids are running some real risks.Hairspray is a very funny film with a very serious message about live and live. In fact that's the main problem with the world today right now, certain people feeling they've got the right through religion or secular philosophy or plain out and out wealth who just feel they've the right to dictate the lives the rest of us are supposed to lead in conforming to how they see the world. In the remake of Hairspray, Queen Latifah who plays Ruth Brown's role of Motormouth Mabel says to the characters playing the Powers and Prince roles that as a racially mixed couple that those young people should be prepared for a whole lot of stupid in the world to deal with. One cast member of this version of Hairspray had occasion to deal with a whole lot of stupid back in 1994.In the cast he's listed as Keith Douglas, lead singer of the Lafayettes DooWop group, but he was Keith Douglas Pruitt, a talented musician, actor, and composer. He and his partner were attacked by a trio of suburban rednecks who were dismayed at seeing two members of the same sex holding hands on Waverly Place. Keith sustained a fractured skull and a hearing loss for a while looked to permanently impair his career in music.It was in my working days with New York State Crime Victims Board that I met Keith Pruitt. I did the claims for both he and his partner, giving them what my agency could provide for both of them. He did go back to work eventually to the applause of his friends and admirers of his work. Keith Pruitt died only a week ago at the age of 47. He left a legacy in art, but he also left a legacy in life as a genuine hero. One who certainly never started out to be one, but things are thrust upon us in life sometimes. He stood up to the homophobic bigots and bashers with dignity and pride. I'm really proud I knew him and was part of his story in a small way.And so this review of Hairspray is dedicated to Keith Pruitt, someone we can all emulate in life.

Kristine I heard a little bit about Hairspray, kinda like maybe it was an underground classic, some have heard of it, some haven't, but I just watched it over the weekend to find to surprise that it was directed by John Waters and starred Divine, I just recently viewed ...sigh... Pink Flamingos, so I had no idea as to what to expect from this movie. But I'd have to say it was a real pleasure to watch, as silly of a story as it was, it worked. In today's world, big girls are not really as well excepted, Ricki Lake took on that role as Tracy and made it OK to be big and beautiful.She plays Tracy Turnbird, a plump teenage girl who is a huge fan of a dance show called the Corny Collins show, she and her friend go onto the show and Tracy quickly jumps in to become one of the favorite dancers, in fact even more popular than her thinner rivals. But Tracy wins everyone's heart including her family and the love of the public as she goes to prove that big girls don't cry... that and you can never have hair that doesn't stand up high enough... you'll get that when you see the movie.Hairspray is a good movie, it had decent acting and a cute story that I'm sure that anyone could enjoy. So please do give it a look, I'm sure I'll see it again down the road, I told my friends about it and they are actually interested in seeing it, so goes to show you that the film might be still remembered for a few more decades to come, especially since it's being remade I just noticed, oi, Hollywood, can't you come up with something original?8/10

maroonmagik Being a pleasantly plump teenage girl who loves to sing and dance myself,I absolutely adore this movie! Any movie where the fat girl steals the dreamy heart throb from the "perfect" skinny girl is a favorite of mine. This movie is empowering to big girls everywhere, even if they do have to shop at the "Hefty Hideaway." And personally, I think Rikki Lake was much more entertaining before she lost all the weight. When was the last time you saw her talk show or saw her in a movie? The musical version of Hairspray is one of my favorite shows and I would LOVE to play Tracy onstage. Waters may have his critics, but he sure knows how to direct a good cult classic.

blanche-2 Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, a short, chubby teen with big hair who loves to dance in "Hairspray," a 1988 John Waters film starring Divine, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Jerry Stiller, and Mink Stole. "Hairspray" has now been immortalized on Broadway as an enormous, energetic, fabulously entertaining musical which kept the conceit of a man playing Tracy's mother, again with great success."Hairspray" is highly exaggerated in parts, which makes it extra funny, and Waters captures '60s Baltimore beautifully. Corny Collins, who is the Baltimore Dick Clark, would like nothing better than to integrate his television show, but blacks are only permitted to dance one night a week. The van Tussles are for segregation - that would be Sonny Bono, running for office, his wife Harry (on stage the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, in the film Miss Soft Crab). Harry's hairstyles are fantastic - HUGE - her last hairdo is in the form of an enormous loving cup.When Tracy's friend Penny takes up with the son of an outspoken black woman, Motormouth Mabel (Ruth Brown), her hysterical mother has her kidnapped and put in the hands of a psychiatrist (Divine as a man) who tries to torture her to stop liking black men. It's so outrageous it's funny, and that's where Waters shows his talent. When Tracy gets a contract modeling for a plus-sized woman's shop, the owner's live ad on Corny's show begins, "Tubby, tubby, 2 x 4, can't get through the kitchen door." It's this madcap treatment that keeps any of this from being remotely offensive.All the performances are delightful, and there's a nice turn by Pia Zadora as a black-haired beatnik chick."Hairspray" has a lot of warmth that emanates from Tracy and the Turnblad family, and the mood stays upbeat throughout the entire film as the characters dance through life, Tracy with an overlay of blonde hair over her dark flip. Great music, great fun. "Hairspray" in any version is wonderful.