HairsprayMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Hairspray."

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Avg. Critic Score: 81 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
11 OK for kids 11+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Movie magic. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    A fizzy and delirious high-camp message-movie musical that may just turn out to be the happiest movie of the summer. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Just plain fun. Or maybe not so plain. There's a lot of craft and slyness lurking beneath the circa-1960s goofiness. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    It's hard to resist the film's exuberance. Read full review

  • 80
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    It's one of the best Broadway-tuner adaptations in recent years -- yes, arguably even better than those Oscar-winning ones. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    What it offers isn't really a nostalgic look at a "more innocent time" so much as a saucy wink at a casually vicious time that is constantly being sold to us as innocent. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    The overall mood of Hairspray is so joyful, so full of unforced enthusiasm, that only the most ferocious cynic could resist it. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    John Travolta may stand out as a plus-size laundress who is hesitant, drab and retiring, but Hairspray is a consistently flashy, rousing and rambunctious movie spectacle. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    John Travolta takes on John Waters in Hairspray, and the result is anything but a drag in this appealingly goofy, all-singing, all-dancing screen adaptation of the Broadway musical based on the 1988 film. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post |

    When Hairspray is twisting and shouting and swiveling its hips, you can even dare to believe a great society is waiting in the wings. Read full review

View more reviews for Hairspray on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 11+ Infectiously fun musical with a message.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this musical adaptation of the Broadway hit will appeal to tweens thanks to stars like Amanda Bynes and High School Musical's Zac Efron. It's a bit tamer than the John Waters original -- there's less cursing and fighting -- but the themes are the same: accepting people's differences, whether because of their looks or their skin color. Kids younger than 11 will miss much of the meaning while still being entertained by the characters and the production. Some of the song lyrics are a tad sexually suggestive: "I won't go all the way/but I'll go pretty far" and "The darker the berry/the sweeter the juice" are just two examples. Since it's set in the early '60s, African Americans are called "Negroes" (and, in one case, "lawn jockeys"). There are a lot of weight-based insults and one case of parental abuse: Mrs. Pingleton literally ties Penny to her bed and calls her a "devil child." In one scene, three "bad girls" are shown smoking in the school bathroom, while adults sit in a smoke-filled teachers' lounge.
  • Families can talk about prejudice and racism. Mrs. Von Tussle assumes that Tracy isn't talented because of her size, but Tracy proves her wrong. Tracy's determination and self esteem are strong despite her weight. How are overweight kids discriminated against today? What about minorities? Even though there's no more segregation, do kids of color get picked on for being different? Kids: What does Tracy teach us about judging people (and their abilities) by their looks? Families who've seen the original (or the Broadway show) can also talk about how this movie is similar to -- and different from -- the other incarnations.
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Tracy marches in favor of integration. The movie's major theme is seeing beyond people's looks or skin color.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: The Baltimore police push and shove African-American demonstrators marching for integration. Mrs. Pingleton ties Penny to her bed.
  • sex false0 Sex: Link and Tracy kiss; Tracy sings about how she won't "go all the way/but I'll go pretty far" and "French kissing" her crush. Seaweed and Penny kiss and dance together, as do Amber and Link and Tracy and Link. Mrs. Von Tussle throws herself on Mr. Turnblad; Mr. & Mrs. Turnblad embrace.
  • language false3 Language: Insults about Tracy's weight: "chubby communist," "whale," "fattie," etc. Use of the term "lawn jockeys" in reference to African Americans, as well as the formerly common (and, at the time, accepted) word "Negro." Other racially charged terms include "cracker boy," "race mixing," etc. Penny's mom says "whore" and "devil child."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Just hairspray...
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Teens smoke in the girls' bathroom; adults smoke in the teachers' lounge.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

4.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… too strong and joyful to be ruined … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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