Some people, often movie critics, love "Shampoo". However, when I watched it tonight I wasn't particularly impressed nor did I love the film. I think much of this is because I am watching it in 2016...and back in 1975 the film was more shocking and groundbreaking. Now, it just seems a bit dull.
The film is about a womanizing jerk. George (Warren Beatty) is a hairdresser whose life seems to revolve around compulsively having sex with women. When the film begins, he's juggling two women (Lee Grant and Goldie Hawn) but after he meets an old flame (Julie Christie), he begins to juggle all three...and even takes time for a quickie with a fourth (Carrie Fisher). During all this time, he's trying (not very hard mind you) to get the funding to open up his own hair salon. All this, at times, is set to the strains of lots of 60s music (almost like it's a music video) and the 1968 election.
I think the reason the film worked in 1975 was its coarse language (f-bombs and middle fingers as well as vulgar terms for sex rarely used before in films). Other than the novelty of all this, the film itself was a bit dull...much of it because of the banality of the plot and characters. In essence, these are a lot of shallow, narcissistic folks who are difficult to care about in any way--even when George, inexplicably, shows a desire to finally settle down. The acting, I suppose, is good but the plot left me flat. Who cares who George makes it with in the film? I didn't.
The film is about a womanizing jerk. George (Warren Beatty) is a hairdresser whose life seems to revolve around compulsively having sex with women. When the film begins, he's juggling two women (Lee Grant and Goldie Hawn) but after he meets an old flame (Julie Christie), he begins to juggle all three...and even takes time for a quickie with a fourth (Carrie Fisher). During all this time, he's trying (not very hard mind you) to get the funding to open up his own hair salon. All this, at times, is set to the strains of lots of 60s music (almost like it's a music video) and the 1968 election.
I think the reason the film worked in 1975 was its coarse language (f-bombs and middle fingers as well as vulgar terms for sex rarely used before in films). Other than the novelty of all this, the film itself was a bit dull...much of it because of the banality of the plot and characters. In essence, these are a lot of shallow, narcissistic folks who are difficult to care about in any way--even when George, inexplicably, shows a desire to finally settle down. The acting, I suppose, is good but the plot left me flat. Who cares who George makes it with in the film? I didn't.