Hairspray

UK Release: 20th July 2007

Watched on TV: Saturday 24th/25th December 2011

Rating: PG

Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 57mins

Tagline: When you follow your own beat, the world will follow you.

IMDb Plot Synopsis: Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin, much to Tracy's mother Edna's dismay. After one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed, Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil dance queen Amber Von Tussle and her mother Velma. Tracy then decides that it's not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of Seaweed, Link, Penny, Motormouth Maybelle, her father and Edna, she's going to integrate the show.....without denting her 'do!

My Review: Well that was one big cheese-fest if I ever saw one. You literally couldn’t get any cheesier than Hairspray and while it was pretty cringeworthy at parts I somehow started laughing and tapping my toes along to some of the numbers. I think this may be what they call Christmasitis. You know the condition where everything seems much better than it actually is and films such as Hairspray fill you with a warm happy glow. Yep, I got that. 

The acting wasn’t that bad. I particuarly liked Zac Efron and Amanda Bynes, and their over the top costumes added to the overall happy-go-lucky effect. And you have to admit that the dance numbers (of which they are almost constant) are mighty impressive. Ultimately, though the plot was ridiculously predictable and the whole thing hard to swallow, it was a feel-good film that was somehow just what was needed the night before Christmas...

Score: 7.5/10