Michael Butler's Broadway musical "Hair" from 1967 was an unqualified success which spawned pop-oriented hit singles from its score. Milos Forman's movie version was critically-acclaimed (Roger Ebert named it the best film of the year), but it looked out of place in 1979. With disco fading and punk rock and New Wave moving in, not many moviegoers were interested in harking back to "The Age of Aquarius". A pity, since Forman's movie shows that there was something deeper and more meaningful to the show than what was initially publicized (the hippies, the nudity, etc.). A straight-arrow on his way into the Army is befriended by a gang of free-living, free-loving young people; their leader, a rebellious, incredulous sort who doesn't understand the purpose of (or need for) authority, tries to open his new friend's mind. Forman doesn't shape individual scenes to get an impact--he's always looking at the big picture. This approach backfires in regards to some of the musical numbers, which either aren't well edited ("Hair"), feel incongruous ("Black Boys/White Boys"), or don't seem to have a great deal of relevancy ("Walking in Space"). Screenwriter Michael Weller occasionally pushes everyone aside in order to invent new dramatic situations, which leaves the middle portion of the film feeling a little draggy. Still, the cast (albeit a much older group of actors than one might hope for) is solid, and the film's art direction is uncannily accurate. The LSD/wedding-fantasy sequence misfires, and the anti-war performance piece held near the Washington Monument fails to make much of an impression. Yet the tricky irony of the finale is rather well-done, and when a musical moment is welcomed (such as "Good Morning Starshine"), it can work brilliantly. **1/2 from ****
Review of Hair
