Film Review - Hair

Hair is a strange film about non-conformity during the Vietnam War. A group of draft card-burning hippies encounter a man about to report to the induction center in New York.

They convince him to stay with them for his last three days. His world is broadened during this time. He learns to let go. Fall in love. Have some fun with life. But three days is only three days, and soon he is off to boot camp.

This film drags horribly. The music is wonderful, but the connecting story fails it, leaving the audience to want to jump up and break into song, "Get on with it!" Finally, when we get to the end, the tables turn. The non-conformist hippie is trapped by his own behavior. He is forced to take responsibility for his actions which, until now, he has shunned. The young man destined for Vietnam is freed and takes his place in the world somewhere between stiff conformist and his non-conformist hippie friends.

Shown mostly in New York's Central Park, Hair is capable of suspending your disbelief and convincing you that, in fact, it is 1968. If only there was a little more meat on those bones.

Dust Bag Full

Film Facts

Directed by Milos Forman

Released in 1979

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewed by Mongo