This is an awesome movie, and is equally as good as the musical— and the musical was based on a film back in 1988.

Whoa, that was confusing. Basically, Hairspray was a movie that turned into a musical. Because the musical was such a hit, it was adapted to a movie using the same hit broadway songs.

If you like seeing highly coordinated and energetic dancing, this is your kind of movie. Set in the 1960’s, the movie focusses on a vibrant and volumptuous teenage girl, Tracy Turnblad, who has a passion to dance, and lands a spot in a hit dance show “The Corny Collins Show.” It is during her experiences on that show that tested the generation’s changing tolerance for people that are viewed less than ‘ideal’.

This movie will definitely put a smile to your face. Even if you don’t like dancing-on-prozac, which this movie features a lot of, you’ll definitely get a kick out of John Travolta as Tracy Turnblad’s mother. He plays the part so well.

Also, if you have a knack for architecture, you will quickly notice that the movie was filmed in Toronto. According to the Star, the producers chose to film here because we are one of only a few North American cities that still have streetcar infrastructure. Baltimore, where the film is intended to portray, had its lines disbanded. You can check out the Star’s images related to the Toronto-to-Baltimore transformation.

Hairspray - [wikipedia.org]
T.O. shows its inner Baltimore - [thestar.com]