Shampoo (1975) Hal Ashby

Shampoo (1975) directed by Hal Ashby and written by Warren Beatty is a very vivid slice of L.A. in the 70s.  Beatty plays George, a hairdresser, who sleeps with anyone who will have him and it seems plenty will.  Felicia, a politician’s wife, Lorna, her daughter, Jackie, his ex, and Jill, his supposed girlfriend. These are just the ones we see on screen.  To be fair to George, he really is trying his best, but his best is very sad.  He goes all over L.A. on his motorcycle, cutting hair and styling his brains out.  Too bad his brains are mostly in his pants.  The setting is election night in 1968 but it is firmly in the background.  I don’t think it was Beatty’s intention, but I saw the film as a dawning revelation to George that he is not the center of the universe and that the women in his life are their own people.

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