Review of Hairspray (1988) by Brooke S — 23 Apr 2012
John Waters' strongest by a mile, in fact Hairspray is the only film he made that I can recommend with any good conscience. Thinly scripted to make way for numerous lively dance sequences, Hairspray was the best vehicle for this irritatingly famous and usually dreadful director's few strengths: his penchant for outlandish and colorful costumes is displayed in full effect here thanks to the dance sequences, and his usual tirade of sassy-to-vulgar dialogue rants and one-liners found some morally relatable crux in the film's themes of racial tension.
More than anything, the quirky dance sequences can be a hoot, and the cast does an all-around decent job miming through their lightweight characters. While John Waters does not have it in himself to ever get very deep, realistic or meaningful, Hairspray was the closest he came to being human, even if it is still, typical of Waters, closer to a cartoon.
This review of Hairspray (1988) was written by Brooke S on 23 Apr 2012.
Hairspray has generally received positive reviews.
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