Shampoo (1975)

For those who consider Bulworth to be a savage and unprecedented political send-up, it's worth revisiting Warren Beatty's first, and best, attempt at outrageous social criticism. Mercilessly exposing the essential vacuity of both the sexual revolution and conservative alarmism over cultural permissiveness, Shampoo remains the best movie ever made about Nixon's America, and one of the very best about the tragic and disappointing conclusion to the 1960s. Set on the eve of the 1968 presidential election that elevated Nixon to the Oval Office, Beatty's uproarious satire follows a hairdressing Lothario (played by Mr. You're So Vain himself) in and out of the beds of several women, including the wife of a wealthy businessman, his mistress, and his young daughter (Carrie Fisher, in her first screen role). Juxtaposing tropes from Restoration comedy with Southern California dialogue and a healthy, hilarious dash of running commentary from election returns, Beatty's ruthless awareness cuts through the film like a scalpel. The performances are uniformly excellent and surprisingly ego-free; though Jack Warden's portrayal of Lester, the twice-cuckolded businessman, stands out as a model of sensitive, nuanced parodic acting. Released in 1975 during the messy cleanup at the conclusion of the Watergate era, Shampoo neatly bookends the Nixon presidency, and concludes with the frightening finality of an iron door slamming on a cell. Commended for including the live version of Jefferson Airplane's Plastic Fantastic Lover. --Miles Bethany Amazon.com essential video

Cool Movie; Anachronistic Fashions

This movie has remains a bittersweet, vital thing, and is well acted, but the production has a fault that galls me in any "period" movie--the clothes are often of the moment of the film's making, NOT from 1968. Why would it have been difficult to make the wardrobe consistently 60s--and what better expert on what 1968 should look like than Goldie Hawn, a co-star in the film? They got cars and women's skirts right, but most of the male clothing (including bizarro, button-pocket jacket-shirts) and accessories (giant, translucent sunglasses, e.g.), and male hair (Beatty's semi-believable Morrison-quoif excluded), and some of the women's clothes, e.g., Julie Christie's pants outfits, scream "spring of 1975." The Shampoo production people forgot that 1968 fashions looked a heck of a lot more like the mid 60s than the mid 70s. I am sure they were blind to this at the time--it can be hard to recognize the "historical" quality of one's current haircut or clothing. But the hair knows. If you want to see actual 1968 . . . everything, see the (also bittersweet) film Medium Cool, shot at the time this film is set. July 12, 2008

Little Ado About "Shampoo"

Despite the impressive talent involved, this bland attempt at sexual and social satire never gels. "Shampoo" captures the Beverly Hills milieu of November 1968, but says little about Nixonian America. Except for Jack Warden's memorable performance as the cuckolded Republican tycoon, the characterizations are rather dreary. Warren Beatty goes through the motions as the carnally charged hairdresser -- while the acting skills of Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn and Lee Grant go to waste. Hal Ashby's inventive directorial style cannot redeem Beatty and Robert Towne's lackluster script. A major disappointment. July 4, 2008

Blow-dry

The time is the eve of the 1968 election --actual TV footage of Nixon and Agnew is interspersed with the fictional account of one womanizing straight hair dresser (Yes, Virginia, there really is a straight hair dresser), George Roundy (Warren Beatty of "Bonnie and Clyde," "Reds," "Splendor in the Grass," etc. fame)who does women's hair in the beauty shop and takes care of their other needs outside his place of employment. Included among his "clients" are Felicia (Lee Grant), her daughter Lorna (Carrie Fisher), Jackie (Julie Christie who delighted us with "Darling," "Doctor Zhivago" and her latest "Away From Her"), and his live-in lover Goldie Hawn ("Cactus Flower, "Death Becomes Her), as Jill. Of course Felicia's husband Lester (Jack Warden) is having a fling with Jackie as well. The musical beds get as complicated as a John Updike novel. COUPLES comes to mind.

Beatty, Hawn, Christie, Warden and Grant give hilarious good performances in this satire of the sexual excesses of the late 1960's and the politics of Nixon et al. Co-written and produced by Mr. Beatty, "Shampoo" is directed by Hal Ashby who gave the world "Harold and Maude" as well as "Coming Home." The clothes and furnishing are just right: bell-bottomed trousers, form-fitting shirts and gaudy jewelry everywhere for Beatty and a dress so short for Goldie that it could almost pass for a long shirt. Surely the scene where Julie Christie, while in a restaurant, dives under the table to perform oral sex on Mr. Beatty before a crowd of witnesses has to be one of the all-time famous sex scenes in movie history. The soundtrack contains music by Paul Simon, Jefferson Airplane and some beautiful cuts from the Beatles' wondrous "Sergeant Pepper" album.

Released in 1975 after Watergate, "Shampoo" has held up well with time. July 4, 2008

A Little Dated but Still Fun

I will admit that I did not really like Hal Ashby's Shampoo when it came out. Thirty-three years havealtered my opinion slightly but it's still not a favorite.

Warren Beatty plays George Roundy a Las Angeles hairdresser who yearns for his own salon and becomes entangled in the lives of four different women and the man who is somehow connected to all of them. In order to get his loan George approaches businessman Lester Carp (Jack Warden). The problem is that George is sleeping with Lester's wife Felicia (Lee Grant), Lester's girlfriend Jackie (Julie Christie) and Lester's daughter Lorna (Carrie Fisher). George is also in the middle of a failing relationship with his own girlfriend Jill(Goldie Hawn). The confusion results in a sex comedy that AFI considers one of the 100 most funny but the movie has lost quite a bit of its edge over the years.

The disc I viewed was bare bones with no extras. Columbia's transfer was kind of grainy and soft and the mono sound while adequate to the souce material was a little tinny. Watch it as a piece of 1970's nostalgia and as a classic but don't expect greatness. February 15, 2008

A Casual Classic

This is a laid back and worthy of many views type movie. I always pick up something else when I see it again. There are running jokes, and until you pick up on them, the subject matter of women's drives coming to the same point from all different motivations and opposite worlds will keep this from staying on the shelf longer than a year! Love it. January 18, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...