Starts off slowly, but works its way into a comedy with both a nice and wicked sense of humor. Having grown up listening to a lot of this music my parents played, it becomes my own little nostalgia trip as well.

Sassy.

A delightfully weird, bizarre film. It eschews realism for this strange universe of cruel, single-minded antagonists, and insane, odd-looking heroes. While never uproariously funny, it's plenty entertaining, and occasionally quite charming.

I hate musicals. I didn't absolutely dislike this film, but it wasn't all that great, either. Not one I'd recommend if we have much in common.

A thoughtful reflection on race relations in 1960s America. Great cameo by Ric Ocasek and Waters himself is hilarious as the psychiatrist.

John Waters at his gentlest, although there are plenty of splashes of his trademark grotesquerie. HAIRSPRAY's deals with the love of music (and dance), and the 60s fight for integration, and Waters integrates (yuk yuk) these two themes well, avoiding preachiness while successfully lampooning the excesses of bigotry (and 60s hair). And, of course, the music and dancing are great. Fine acting all around: Divine steals the show in a dual role (as a woman AND a man!). A light, endearing film.

Despite some abrasive elements, this remains a fairly tame satire of the 60s, which lacks even the slightly edgier undertones that the musical adopted. There is still a lot to enjoy here (Harry's hairstyles are worth the price of admission) and director Waters is hilarious as a brain-washing guru, but overall the subject matter is dealt with far more succesfully (and energetically) in the later musical version.

Well, that was fun.

There is fairly little to this movie but it's enjoyable nonetheless.