Shampoo

R

Released Feb 11, 1975

1 hr. 52 min.

Comedy

List

68%

40 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Against the backdrop of Nixon's election to office, Beverly Hills hairdresser and notorious rake George Roundy (Warren Beatty) runs into trouble when his lascivious habits begin to clash with his more responsible business ambitions. Things get even more complex when Roundy asks his wealthy mistress, Felicia Karpf (Lee Grant), for a business loan, unaware that his best friend and ex-girlfriend, Jackie (Julie Christie), is sleeping with Karpf's husband, Lester (Jack Warden).

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Mar 20

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Shampoo on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Shampoo trains a darkly comic lens on post-Nixon America, aiming at -- and often hitting -- an array of timely targets.

Read Critics Reviews

Blu B

Hal Ashby is what elevates this to an interesting and decent enough level even when it doesn't make full sense and meanders at times. This thing oozes New Hollywood/Ashby for better or for worse. Everything about it is half decent save for the editing which was ok enough. The camerawork is really good, the settings all pop, and there is a couple memorable scenes as well. Everyone has some chemistry and the Ashby style humor hits a lot which really helps. Even with their flaws all the characters are likeable despite sometimes not always being clear what their moivations are or what to fully take away from a scene. Quite often I find myself enjoying a scene but not really sure what the point was or feeling like I'm missing something underlying like the election time this takes place in. It's an interesting love triangle that merges comedy, romance, and drama together well but has problems forming a cohesive story around everything. The best way to describe this is it alternates between scenes that make sense and scenes that don't but all of them are never boring or uninteresting. There is always something to keep your interest through it which is a testament to Ashby's direction. Some clearer motivations for all the characters, getting rid of some of the meandering scenes or making them clearer, and using the soundtrack a bit more often with some added tracks would've gone a long way here to help. It's defintely not for everyone and reallly only Ashby fans, fans of any actors in this, or hardcore New Hollywood Era fans will find enjoyment here.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/17/23

Full Review

Bert M

Thoughtful and period correct. Julie Christie and Warren Beaty at their finest. Funny.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/08/23

Full Review

Taylor L

America in 1968 seems so cool, why don't we make more movies about when things were groovy? Oh, right. Because Vietnam was kind of a downer. Shampoo is one of the many films that came out post-Watergate that showed a mirror to a transformed America. Where Alan J. Pakula opted to go down the thriller route with films like All The President's Men, Hal Ashby decided satire was the best bet; Shampoo shows an empty national consciousness years before the porcelain mask cracked under Nixon (who is shown in countless TV broadcast and wall portraits). The sexual experimentation of the '60s has become less of a liberation and more of a mindless ritual, a caving in to baser instincts that robs the real world of all sincerity. Encapsulating that, Warren Beatty's George is a talented hairdresser who finds his vain ambitions hobbled by the fact that he bangs anything that moves; he's shallow and dishonest, but he's operating in a sea of other shallow and dishonest people, and at least he looks good and can style hair. Not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but filled with more observational humor about social and political standards of the day. Props to Beatty for the very active role he took in crafting his own character, taking on not only the starring role but credits as writer and producer. Plus, he surrounded himself with talented and beautiful actresses of the day to bolster his story with a solid eye, including Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie, and a pre-Star Wars Carrie Fisher. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An artifact of its time but also a lacerating portrayal of sexual addiction. George Roundy is an artist in hair; he gives new identities to his "heads"; women who put their hair in his hands find new versions of themselves. But, as a sexual addict, he can't resist wanting to own those versions sexually (overtones of the Pygmalion myth, only with 60s hedonism/cultural repression). So his life is a mess; the central conflict of the film is whether the woman who he actually loves will be able to accept him as he is. Roundy is an inarticulate, difficult-to-sympathize with protagonist whose primary flaw was much more acceptable in 1975 than it is today. If you can withhold moral judgment, the comedy and tragedy of the characters will open for you. If you're stuck on "he's a jerk and these women got what they deserved for putting up with him," find something else to watch.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

LOL, the funniest 1 52/60 hours ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

matthew d

A funny and poignant spoof of the hippie generation's free love movement. Hal Ashby's romantic comedy-drama Shampoo (1975) is all massive mod hairdos and endless infidelity. Warren Beatty cheats on so many women that Shampoo is practically his life story as a notorious womanizer. Beatty's cheating hairdresser George Roundy, ironically with hideously awful hair from make-up artist E. Thomas Case, goes around as a lecherous willing to sleep with any girl in town. Case's hair for the main cast of ladies is all lovely and playful, but hilariously he couldn't do anything for 70's Warren Beatty, who plays Roundy as a real scumbag and the clear villain of Shampoo. You just watch him ruin the lives of a dozen people as he just cannot keep it in his pants. All the raw emotions of seeing these ladies upset feels sincere as Hal Ashby doesn't avert your gaze to the hippies or yuppies alike. Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs captures the erotic and erratic 70's with beautiful wide shots that show you the world of Shampoo, while honing in the emotional performances of the lead actresses with tender close-ups of their tearful eyes. Robert C. Jones' editing cuts at a steady pace so you really feel how deplorable Warren Beatty's unfaithful actions are to his various lady friends. Lee Grant is drop dead gorgeous and captivating as Felicia. Her insatiable lust and provocative dialogue is as playful as her verbal jabs at her worthless husband. I loved Grant the most out of Shampoo's wonderful cast of legendary actresses. She is the highlight of the film as she dumps Warren Beatty and tells her husband played by Jack Warden that she's divorcing him as she's finally had enough. I'm so glad that Lee Grant won an Oscar for Shampoo as she's my clear favorite actress in the entire picture with her dazzling outfits, meaningful looks of longing or hatred, playful acting, and biting words. It's quite funny seeing the lovely young Carrie Fisher as Lee Grant's free spirited daughter Lorna too! Goldie Hawn is delightful as Jill with her cute aloof persona. Hawn's iconic blonde locks and pleasantly quirky personality shine throughout Shampoo. You just want her to be happy and not have to get cheated on by the promiscuous Warren Beatty. She's gorgeous and looks like an angel at this time. Julie Christie is sympathetic as the mistress Jackie Shawn to Jack Warden's old goofy Lester. Christie makes you believe she does love Warren Beatty, while also feeling something for Jack Warden's foolish old investor. Christie is quite pretty and looks remarkable like Sharon Tate at times during Shampoo. Honestly, I loved the supporting cast much more dearly than Warren Beatty's lanky hairdresser George Roundy. Richard Sylbert's production design looks like a real hair salon and normal 70's homes with George Gaines' 70's furnishings and psychedelic set decorations sealing the deal. Paul Simon's music is pretty for Shampoo's score, but it's the psych rock party finale that gets all the coolest songs with a refreshing blast of something heavy for your ears. Anthea Sylbert's costumes are so sexy, sultry, and sublime for all the ladies in the cast. I found Warren Beatty's party suit hilarious like he's going to a psychedelic prom or something. Warren Beatty and Robert Towne wrote Shampoo and it effectively shows how the free love movement of the late 1960's and 1970's only leads to heartbreak and affairs as everyone is sleeping around with no loyalty or morals. Having the staunchly conservative Nixon and his campaign in the background only stabs harder as Nixon kept winning unfortunately because of the backlash to the liberal love of the era being unpopular around America at the time. Hal Ashby's direction both critiques the ridiculous conservative outrage as they were cheating on their spouses too as much as he spits as the disingenuous love making of his era as just another excuse for cheating. In all, Shampoo is an excellent timepiece of what the 1970's were like and why you'd never want to revisit that era.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Hal Ashby

Director

Warren Beatty

George Roundy

Julie Christie

Jackie Shawn

Goldie Hawn

Jill

Lee Grant

Felicia

Jack Warden

Lester

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

88%

79%

Stripes

TRAILER

for Stripes

57%

49%

Neighbors

82%

66%

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

14%

25%

Big Trouble

43%

68%

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Classic Film Catch-Up: Eight Genre-Defining Quirky Rom-Coms to Stream Now

Rank Goldie Hawn’s 10 Best Movies

Five Favorite Films with Lawrence Kasdan

View more photos

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

Shampoo is light and impudent, yet, like the comedies that live on, it's a bigger picture in retrospect.

Oct 6, 2023

Full Review

Philippa Snow

New Statesman

George is that rare breed of lothario whom we believe when he suggests that he is promiscuous because he loves women too much and too well, a casualty of his own emotional immaturity.

Mar 18, 2021

Full Review

Walter Goodman

New York Times

In "Shampoo" Ashby shows that he has a good memory for a couple of decades of cinematic clichés.

Dec 13, 2017

Full Review

Dave Giannini

InSession Film

Although that mashup of tones can be difficult for some and the film takes a few minutes to really dive into the plot, it all coalesces together in a rewarding way.

Feb 20, 2024

Full Review

Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

There's nothing not to like in this sex farce-plus.

May 5, 2023

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It masterfully creates a snapshot of an era, documenting familiar movements and lifestyles and attitudes (sexual politics over the governmental kind).

Rated: 8/10

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Against the backdrop of Nixon's election to office, Beverly Hills hairdresser and notorious rake George Roundy (Warren Beatty) runs into trouble when his lascivious habits begin to clash with his more responsible business ambitions. Things get even more complex when Roundy asks his wealthy mistress, Felicia Karpf (Lee Grant), for a business loan, unaware that his best friend and ex-girlfriend, Jackie (Julie Christie), is sleeping with Karpf's husband, Lester (Jack Warden).

Director: Hal Ashby
Screenwriter: Robert Towne, Warren Beatty
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, Criterion Collection
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 11, 1975, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2011
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now