Hairspray marks something of a departure for director John Waters; a man best known for his 'bad taste' pictures such as Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. The film still features Waters' style, but the bad taste is massively toned down and the whole feel of the movie could be described as 'John Waters Lite'. The film is set in 1962 Baltimore and music is the major focus of the film. Waters obviously realised that the style of it would be the major attraction; and as such has taken time to lay it on as thick as possible, and this blends well with the music and storyline. The plot focuses on a corny music show enjoyed by the teens in Baltimore. 'Pleasantly plump' Tracy Turnblad is one of the many obsessed by this show and sets out to get a role as one of the dancers. She achieves her goal and soon becomes a local hero, but she loses some friends when she decides to use her success in order to speak out for what she believes in - namely social integration.
While John Waters' style is one of the best things about the movie, in another way it's one of the worst. In his earlier films, the content is generally distracting enough for the audience not to really notice the rather boring directorial style; but this film doesn't have that, and while the style is a big enough distraction at first; it soon becomes clear that the plot is rather lacking and the film becomes dull before we even reach the halfway point. Hairspray stars Ricki Lake in the lead role, and she does a rather good job with it. The role doesn't require any great acting talents, but she is at least bright and breezy for the duration. The rest of the cast is filled out nicely by an eclectic list of names, which includes Debbie Harry, Divine, Pia Zadora and even the director himself in an amusing role as a psychologist. The message regarding segregation may well be a good one; but really it's not all that interesting and isn't put forward particularly well, and that's where the film falls down. Overall, I do like the style of the film and appreciate the ideas behind it; but it's not well executed and I don't rate it among Waters' best efforts.
While John Waters' style is one of the best things about the movie, in another way it's one of the worst. In his earlier films, the content is generally distracting enough for the audience not to really notice the rather boring directorial style; but this film doesn't have that, and while the style is a big enough distraction at first; it soon becomes clear that the plot is rather lacking and the film becomes dull before we even reach the halfway point. Hairspray stars Ricki Lake in the lead role, and she does a rather good job with it. The role doesn't require any great acting talents, but she is at least bright and breezy for the duration. The rest of the cast is filled out nicely by an eclectic list of names, which includes Debbie Harry, Divine, Pia Zadora and even the director himself in an amusing role as a psychologist. The message regarding segregation may well be a good one; but really it's not all that interesting and isn't put forward particularly well, and that's where the film falls down. Overall, I do like the style of the film and appreciate the ideas behind it; but it's not well executed and I don't rate it among Waters' best efforts.