Hairspray 2007 DVD Review Commentary and Analysis

I love musicals, either at the theatre or on DVD I just can't get enough of them. I haven't actually managed to see the stage version of Hairspray or the original movie for that matter but I pretty much thought that I would love this new version when I did finally get around to watching.

Turns out I was wrong, I bought this on DVD yesterday and I have to say that I thought it was completely awful. Now I realise that I'm probably the only girl in the world who thinks the movie sucked, but despite a really great cast I just couldn't get into it! John Travolta was great as Tracy's mum, and I absolutely loved the accent he put on for this film along with the big personality he brought to the table.

The main problem for me though was the storyline. I found it boring and although some of the songs were really good they just weren't good enough to carry the whole film! I'm also a huge fan of Michelle Pfeiffer but I found her to be irritating beyond belief in Hairspray and after her great performance in Stardust earlier in the year I think that maybe I was just expecting more. I just went and looked on Rotten Tomatoes and this movie scored a whopping 93% so I'm thinking that I have either completely missed the whole point of the film, or maybe I'm just a big old grump!

Either way, I just couldn't stand the tacky feel of this movie and the bright glaring costumes actually made my head hurt at times. It's very strange for me to have this kind of reaction to a musical, usually I love the fact that they are being re vamped and made into film format, as it makes them so much more accessible to those who aren't able to get to see the shows. Although few rarely live up to their theatre version most give a fun exciting take on things and offer those who can't get to the theatre the opportunity to see the next best thing. So I'm sure it must just be me ‘not getting' the complete feel for Hairspray, and I'd love for some of you to reply and let me know what you enjoyed about it...