Amazon.com Essentials:
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
