Shampoo

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Buy This Item Shampoo by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $10.99  on 11-27-2008     For those who consider <I>Bulworth</I> 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, <I>Shampoo</I> 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 <I>awareness</I> 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, <I>Shampoo</I> 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 <I>Plastic Fantastic Lover</I>. <I>--Miles Bethany</i> Reader Reviews 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.

Shampoo Available from Amazon Price: $10.99 Updated on 11-27-2008.

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