★ 7 / 10
I watched much of this convinced that Treat
CinemaSerf
I watched much of this convinced that Treat Williams was a very young Tommy Lee Jones, and despite the look of the film dating, it's still quite a potent and…
I watched much of this convinced that Treat Williams was a very young Tommy Lee Jones, and despite the look of the film dating, it's still quite a potent and entertaining look at life amidst the draft. The rather naive "Claude" (John Savage) arrives from his home in rural Oklahoma into a New York brimming with vibrancy and eccentricity. He's on his way to join up to fight in Vietnam when he encounters "Berger" (Williams) and starts to fall into a life of gentle hedonism leading to his love of "Shiela" (Beverly D'Angelo). She and "Berger are from different sides of the tracks, but despite her silver spoon she has quite a rebellious nature and very much embraces her hippie existence protesting the war whilst stoked up on weed, emotion and idealism. They only have a few days, but in those days their relationships develop, thrive, vacillate and ultimately Milos Forman presents us with a quite subtly scathing commentary on a mid-1960s USA. I still think this works better on the stage - the confined space there forces the characters and scenarios together better, but this is still a strong big-screen adaptation that allows the music and dance numbers to retain much of their punch. The characterisations run deep too with plenty of their gang having slightly more than bit parts to complement the thrust of the burgeoning romance. It's perhaps that that lets this down a little. The pair are rarely seen together and the portrayal of their "love" is a wee bit on the shallow side. Musically, there are more than a few familiar numbers to keep the pace rollicking along, and perhaps the fairly explicit nature of some of the lyrics explains why this did rather better on the European Awards circuit than it did in the USA (or the UK). "Aquarius", "Good Morning Starshine" and the title song are maybe the most memorable but there are plenty more to get our teeth into as the rawness of the original Gerome Ragni book is framed within a cityscape dealing with racism, homophobia and just about everything to preclude the concept of "free love" (or even creatively inexpensive love). It's holding it's relevance quite well and is well worth two hours.
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★ 8 / 10
Incredible
theDIABEETUS
The first time I ever saw this movie was when I was four years old. I remember loving it and everything about it. 13 years later, I am now 17, and decided to…
The first time I ever saw this movie was when I was four years old. I remember loving it and everything about it. 13 years later, I am now 17, and decided to watch it about a month ago because I am taking a 1960's class in school. I didn't really know what to expect, since it had been 13 years since I last saw it, but I was completely blown away by it. The actors were amazing, the music was so fun, and I now find myself singing along to every song. Treat Williams is great as Berger, the "leader" of the hippie group, who always gets what he wants, one way or another (except for at the very end, of course). John Savage is actually very convincing as Claude, the Oklahoma draftee who falls in love with Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). D'Angelo is lovely as the prim and proper rich girl who eventually rebels against her upbringing and joins the hippies. The other hippies are played by Annie Golden, Don Dacus, and Dorsey Wright. Annie Golden is just adorable as Jeannie, the girl who is pregnant but still as cute and innocent as a child. Don Dacus and Dorsey Wright are good as Woof and Hud, the other two members of the group, and Cheryl Barnes, who plays Hud's fiancée, has an amazing voice.
The only problem I have with this movie, however, is that the relationship between Claude and Sheila is not very convincing. They are barely ever shown together, and when they are, they fight (remember the skinny dipping scene?). It seems as though their relationship is very weak, and by the end of the movie we are supposed to believe they are madly in love, only based on the few meetings they had. I also see that many people writing reviews here are upset by the PG rating this movie has. I personally would raise the rating up to a PG-13, only because there is some drug use... but remember in 1979, PG-13 didn't exist. I don't think the nudity is bad at all, it is in no way sexual (in fact, there isn't really any sex at all in this movie), and it is only to show the childlike innocence that the group maintains. In most European countries, nudity isn't regarded as something bad, and I don't see why it is here in the US. Anyways, I give this movie a high rating, and I'm glad it was made back then, because in the insanely "politically correct" world of today, they wouldn't even think of making it, and even if they did, it would be a very "watered down" version, and I'm sure you wouldn't get the full effect.
In conclusion, this is a very underrated film that is definitely worth checking out.
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83%
TOMATOMETER
· 63 reviews
87%
AUDIENCE
· 25K ratings
7.5/10
44.9K
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I'm 56 years old and still a Hippy, this was my favorite movie growing up. And yes hippies were like this back during Viet-nam but on a smaller scale.