Hairspray (2007)

All Critics (214) | Top Critics (49) | Fresh (200) | Rotten (21) | DVD (12)

For a star-studded big-budget musical, Hairspray does a nice job of retaining the funky sweetness of the original.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

'Hairspray': An unabashed, unapologetic movie musical that nearly jumps off the screen and challenges all of your silly hang-ups about movie musicals

August 22, 2007 Full Review

Joe Baltake

Passionate Moviegoer

Top Critic

Bright, campy and wonderfully light, Hairspray reminds us that fun comes in all shapes and sizes. It's also one of the few 'event' movies this summer that doesn't outstay its welcome. That's worth singing about, no matter what your name is.

July 28, 2007 Full Review

Paul Clinton (CNN.com)

CNN.com

Top Critic

It's amiable, it's bouncy, it's got a sweet unknown in the lead flanked by a cast of bankable stars and, providing as it does an amiable and bouncy and sweet escape from a summer's worth of clunky blockbusters.

July 20, 2007 Full Review

Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

Hairspray is an infectious aerosol comedy with nearly every hair in place.

July 20, 2007 Full Review

John Moore

Denver Post

Top Critic

Hairspray is one of the most enjoyable translations of a Broadway musical to the big screen ever.

July 20, 2007 Full Review

Lawson Taitte

Dallas Morning News

Top Critic

It pays respect to the original while also carving its own image as a truly good musical.

September 8, 2012 Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

In alchemy the transmuting of materials between forms distills them to their purest elements. In film, the opposite is true. The more iterations, the more muddled things get. Hairspray is good at what it does but not everything it does is good.

March 22, 2011 Full Review

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

Much of the fun comes from director-choreographer Adam Shankman's happy acceptance of musical staples

August 27, 2009 Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Shankman's crassly theatrical attenuation of Hairspray only draws gay culture away from a moment of American history with which it ought to have a great deal in common

August 8, 2009 Full Review | Comments (3)

Leo Goldsmith

Reverse Shot

It falls to individual efforts by the cast to keep the eye and ear coming back for more.

July 23, 2009 Full Review

S. James Wegg

JWR

Hairspray is an energetic romp, but as a social statement -- which it pretends to be -- it's cartoonish. And as a playful look back at a time and place, it's simplistic shtik. It's a mountain of whipped cream, with an occasional chocolate sprinkle.

February 2, 2009 Full Review | Comments (5)

Tony Macklin

Fayetteville Free Weekly

I will confess that Travolta totally turned me around. A mountain of a woman in his female fat suit, he commits 150% to the role.

August 23, 2008 Full Review

Heather Huntington

ReelzChannel.com

The most refreshing and enjoyable musical of this century%u2014Hairspray.

July 22, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Tim Basham

Paste Magazine

Even if the new Hairspray seems a welcome return to camp for Travolta, his mock seriousness is as frozen as ever.

July 10, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Matthew Sorrento

Bright Lights Film Journal

The film works best for me when they are making fun of the racial climate of the 1960s.

March 3, 2008 Full Review

Jeff Bayer

The Scorecard Review

An amazing cast sings and dances across the screen with such flair and passion its completely infectious.

February 2, 2008 Full Review

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

Caso tivesse 20 minutos e alguns números musicais a menos, Hairspray poderia ser uma surpresa tão divertida quanto o original (que tampouco é um clássico). Inchado como ficou, porém, é apenas um passatempo pouco memorável.

January 16, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

Like your high school's production of "Grease": A musical about sex with a chastity belt strapped to its waist.

December 11, 2007 Full Review

Stephen Himes

Film Snobs

One's enjoyment of Adam Shankman's motion picture will largely depend on one's tolerance for conflict-less, feel good musicals.

December 6, 2007 Full Review

Jordan Hiller

Bangitout.com

Some magical balance between the cast members, the set design, the songs and director Adam Shankman makes it work.

December 6, 2007 Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

• 1. Motormouth Maybelle: [to kids] Well, looks like y'all took a step out of bounce, who do we have here?
  2. Seaweed J. Stubbs: Mama I want you to meet my new friends, this here's Link and this is Tracy Turnblad
  3. Tracy Turnblad: This is just so afrotastic!
  4. Motormouth Maybelle: [looks at Tracy]
  5. Seaweed J. Stubbs: [grabs Penny] and this here is Penny Pingleton
  6. Penny Pingleton: I'm very pleased and scared to be here
  7. Motormouth Maybelle: Oh honey we've got more reason to be scared on your street [walks over to Latoya whose messing with a record] Latoya put that record down you gonna scratch it!
  – Submitted by Matthew C (3 months ago)
• 1. Tracy Turnblad: [to Miss Whimsey] Miss Whimsey what am I to do? Hair can't just sit there like a dead thing on your cheeks.
  – Submitted by Matthew C (3 months ago)
• 1. Edna Turnblad: [to Velma Von Tussle] Smile Miss Crab Meat you're on candid camera.
  2. Wilbur Turnblad: That was a good shot.
  3. Velma Von Tussle: [laughs] What are you doing? GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! GO TO COMMERCIAL! GO!
  – Submitted by Matthew C (5 months ago)
• 1. Amber Von Tussle: Right now, as we speak, your daughter has entered a hotbed of moral... turpentine.
  – Submitted by Katherine R (7 months ago)
• 1. Prudy Pingleton: Devil's Child! [sprinkles water on Penny] Devil's Child!
  – Submitted by Matthew D (15 months ago)
• 1. Penny Pingleton: [kisses seaweed] I've tasted chocolate and I'm not going back!
  – Submitted by Matthew D (15 months ago)

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