MPAA Rating: PG, for language, some suggestive content and momentary teen smoking
Age Range: Ages 12 and up
Genre: Musical/Comedy
Starring: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Bynes, Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Adam Shankman
Screenwriter: Leslie Dixon
Release date: July 20, 2007
Hairspray - Movie Trailer
Hairspray - Official Synopsis
Nineteen years after the release of the original film, New Line Cinema is bringing a feature film adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway production Hairspray to life. Featuring new and original material based on John Waters’ 1988 cult classic about star-struck teenagers on a local Baltimore dance show, the comedy tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, who has only one passion – dancing. Her dream is to appear on “The Corny Collins Show,” Baltimore’s hippest dance party on TV.
Tracy (Nikki Blonsky) seems a natural fit for the show except for one not-so-little problem – she doesn’t fit in. Her plus-sized figure has always set her apart from the cool crowd, which she is reminded of by her loving but overly protective plus-sized mother, Edna (John Travolta). That doesn’t stop Tracy because if there is one thing that this girl knows, it’s that she was born to dance. As her father Wilbur (Christopher Walken) tells her, “Go for it! You’ve got to think big to be big.”
Hairspray - Note to Parents
Hairspray received a benign PG rating and has been touted by many as a family film. The movie does contain some controversial elements, though. Mainly, the part of Edna (Tracy's mother) is played by John Travolta. While it is a bit edgy to have a male play a female role, the part is not in any way intended to be that of a cross-dresser or social deviant. Apparently, the producers just thought that it would be comical to have John play the part of the over-sized and sometimes overbearing woman. In addition, the 1988 version of the film also cast a male as the part of Edna.
Hairspray addresses some mature topics especially surrounding the subject of stereotyping. Tracy is not taken seriously as a dancer because of her figure. Also, race relations are explored as the story takes place during the time of the black-white integration movement. In the movie, Tracy represents someone who has to overcome discrimination in order to realize her dream, and she does so during a time when many others are trying to overcome discrimination as well.
