Hairspray

New review from The Movie Snob

Hairspray (B-). I am not familiar with either the original John Waters movie or the stage musical on which this movie is based, so I approached it with no axe to grind. Set in Baltimore circa 1960, it is the story of an overweight high school girl who dreams of dancing on a local television show sort of like American Bandstand. And it is a story about the civil rights movement and integration. And for some bizarre reason it stars John Travolta in a fat suit as the protagonist’s mother. I enjoyed it for a while, but I thought the movie sort of lost steam when the desegregation plotline moved to the fore. Still, worth a look, especially if you are fan of musicals.