Warren Beatty is George, a hair stylist in 1968 Beverly Hills. In Shampoo, he's usually not in the same place for more than a minute (unless it's with one of the ladies). His mind is also being tugged at different directions: at the start of the film he's doing the deed with one woman, and then swings right over to town to meet his 'love' (Goldie Hawn). Enter Jackie Shawn (Julie Christie, a spirit in any movie she's in), wife of Lester (Jack Warden, maybe the best performance of the film), a well-to-do man. Jackie, it seems, has a stronger will than George, which starts to turn him on to her. After a day of mishaps, uncomforted at a high society dinner, it goes to a hippie party, where everything starts to unravel for George. All the while the 68 election is on in the background, a dark shadow always around the 'me-me-me' qualities that would define a generation.
If the film isn't as strong in a satirical way than it could've been, it is not without trying; Robert Towne does give a few funny parts (Julie Christie's line, I won't say which, but it makes Beatty almost choke, is uproarious), and its mostly low-key humor, or stuff that's more subtle than expected. Hal Ashby, the director, keeps a good eye of interest throughout, making the hippie party at night even more interesting than the lead characters themselves. There's also Beatty, who in this film acts very much like the typical Beatty we might envision- womanizer, liar, and ultimately like a little puppy that tries to give sympathy after making a mess. The female performances are, like their characters, a little above Beatty, giving note of the feminist collective that was strong at the time.
It's not a bad film in the least, but to say that it wasn't great isn't a miscalculation- there are points where the laughs just don't quite click, or the speed of everything washes over what could've been better scenes. And yet, there is a factor to Shampoo that is great for its time, which means that it is a little more challenging than the standard romantic-comic romp; the ending, to me, was a breakthrough. As George stand on that hill-top the next morning, there is a sort of catharsis if not message (its hard to get any message from this film, as it is a string of love/hate bits). How does a ladies man, a hairdresser of all things, get taken off his game? Shampoo reveals that. It might actually serve very well as a 'chick flick' in some circles, even for today's audiences (that is, if the old-school Warren Beatty still serves as a Hollywood treat for women).
If the film isn't as strong in a satirical way than it could've been, it is not without trying; Robert Towne does give a few funny parts (Julie Christie's line, I won't say which, but it makes Beatty almost choke, is uproarious), and its mostly low-key humor, or stuff that's more subtle than expected. Hal Ashby, the director, keeps a good eye of interest throughout, making the hippie party at night even more interesting than the lead characters themselves. There's also Beatty, who in this film acts very much like the typical Beatty we might envision- womanizer, liar, and ultimately like a little puppy that tries to give sympathy after making a mess. The female performances are, like their characters, a little above Beatty, giving note of the feminist collective that was strong at the time.
It's not a bad film in the least, but to say that it wasn't great isn't a miscalculation- there are points where the laughs just don't quite click, or the speed of everything washes over what could've been better scenes. And yet, there is a factor to Shampoo that is great for its time, which means that it is a little more challenging than the standard romantic-comic romp; the ending, to me, was a breakthrough. As George stand on that hill-top the next morning, there is a sort of catharsis if not message (its hard to get any message from this film, as it is a string of love/hate bits). How does a ladies man, a hairdresser of all things, get taken off his game? Shampoo reveals that. It might actually serve very well as a 'chick flick' in some circles, even for today's audiences (that is, if the old-school Warren Beatty still serves as a Hollywood treat for women).