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Shampoo poster

Shampoo

year 1975decade 70sdirector Hal Ashbygenre Satirical comedy-drama

110 minutes

IMDb
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Warren Beatty George Roundy
Julie Christie Jackie Shawn
Goldie Hawn Jill Haynes
Lee Grant Felicia Karpf
Jack Warden Lester Karpf
Tony Bill Johnny Pope
Jay Robinson Norman
George Furth Mr. Pettis
Randy Scheer Dennis Lolly
Susanna Moore Gloria
Carrie Fisher Lorna Karpf
Kathleen Miller Anjanette
Luana Anders Devra
Mike Olton Ricci
Richard E. Kalk Detective Younger
Brad Dexter Senator East
William Castle Sid Roth
Howard Hesseman Red Dog
Michelle Phillips Girl at Party
Susan Blakely Girl on the Street
Cynthia Wood Beauty Shop Customer

Shampoo | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonsguest Cameron Crowehost Sean Fennesseyproducer Craig Horlbeckproducer Chia Hao Tatproducer Eduardo Ocampo
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

The bistro stare-down, Lester and George’s late conversation, the opening sex scene, and several other sequences receive distinct support.

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:47Read transcript
  • George arriving at Jill’s after sleeping with Felicia is nominated for Jill’s dawning realization that something happened.
  • George’s brief tantrum and immediate reconsideration after throwing away his jacket are nominated.
  • The chaotic salon entrances and exits are nominated.
  • George and Jackie’s parking-lot confrontation is nominated for her blunt rejection of the idea that she has sex for money.
  • George styling Jackie’s hair in the bathroom is nominated.
  • Carrie Fisher’s bedroom scene is nominated.
  • The prolonged stare-down between Felicia and Jackie at the party is nominated.
  • Lester moving awkwardly through the party is nominated.
  • George’s attempted declaration of love during “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is nominated.
  • George admitting that he slept with all of the women is nominated.
  • George making peace with Lester is nominated.
  • Jackie ending the relationship with George on the overlook is nominated.
  • The dark opening sex scene set to “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is nominated.
  • The bistro stare-down is selected for its interlocking relationships, Nixon backdrop, and Jackie’s drunken behavior.
  • Lester and George’s late-night conversation is selected for the men’s camaraderie, cruelty, and Jack Warden’s comic concern with housekeeping.

What’s Aged the Best?

Hollywood self-reference, the hairdresser dynamic, cinematography, performances, real estate, and soundtrack licensing are praised.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:24Read transcript
  • Hollywood self-reference is praised, including Carrie Fisher’s casting as a younger generation of sexual frankness.
  • The intimacy between hairdressers and clients is praised as a way the film links physical presentation, secrets, and access to power.
  • The cinematography is praised for texture and for holding on the desire immediately before kisses.
  • Warren Beatty and Jack Warden’s scenes together are praised.
  • Lester’s house is praised separately as real estate.
  • Carrie Fisher’s bold first-film performance is praised.
  • The ability to license two Beatles songs and the rest of the soundtrack is praised.

I Used to Fuck Guys Like You in Prison Award for Craziest Quote

Two lines are proposed, with Lester’s political-market monologue treated as the film’s thesis.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:19Read transcript
  • Jackie’s statement that she has sex for fun rather than money is nominated.
  • Lester’s monologue about wealth, the market, Johnson, and Nixon is selected as a compact statement of the film’s thesis.

What’s Aged the Worst?

The Paul Simon score, offensive language, and reported Beatty/Fisher history are discussed separately.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:18Read transcript
  • Paul Simon’s sparse score is criticized as corny and strange.
  • Some of the movie’s words are acknowledged as having aged badly.
  • Carrie Fisher’s later account that Beatty pursued her during production is cited as having aged badly.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Beatty’s breakup crying and Norman’s salon-owner performance are nominated.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:41Read transcript
  • Beatty is nominated for the repeated crying and pleading when Jackie leaves him; the panel agrees the emotion does not fully work.
  • Norman, the salon owner, is nominated for pushing his performance too hard.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

The movie is called Ashby’s least rewatchable of a three-film run; Goldie Hawn’s appeal and missed rom-com era are separate takes.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:40Read transcript
  • Shampoo is called the least rewatchable of Ashby’s Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, and Shampoo run despite being the biggest hit.
  • Mid-1970s Goldie Hawn is called the most adorable actress of any era.
  • Hawn is said to have arrived about fifteen years too early to dominate the later romantic-comedy boom.

Recasting Couch

John Cazale is proposed for several small roles.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:32:43Read transcript
  • John Cazale is proposed for the commercial director and several other small parts.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Paul Simon’s rejected title song “Have a Good Time” is supplied as research.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:16Read transcript
  • Paul Simon reportedly wrote a rejected title song called “Have a Good Time,” later released on Still Crazy After All These Years.

Apex Mountain

Beatty is debated and ultimately supported; Julie Christie and party scenes receive separate consideration.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:29Read transcript
  • Beatty receives a tentative yes because the film’s ownership, success, and creative control gave him extraordinary leverage.
  • Heaven Can Wait is raised as a competing later peak.
  • Julie Christie is rejected because her two major films in the same earlier year made that the clearer peak.
  • Robert Towne’s Chinatown and Shampoo run is considered.
  • Triumph motorcycles receive a yes, while party scenes lose to Almost Famous.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise is preferred for George, while a Hanks version is considered comic.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:20Read transcript
  • Cruise is selected for George because he can combine sexual confidence with vulnerability.
  • Hanks trying the role is considered amusing, though his hair is judged wrong for the required haircut.

Picking Nits

The daughter reaction, party-house geography, loan logic, instant valets, and mysteriously transported motorcycle are distinct objections.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:23Read transcript
  • Felicia’s muted response to the possibility that George slept with her teenage daughter is questioned.
  • The ownership and geography of the large party house are confusing.
  • Whether Jill slept with Johnny Pope and whether the ambiguity preserves her agency are debated.
  • George’s plan for securing a salon loan lacks credible financial detail.
  • The valets retrieve cars implausibly quickly from the crowded party.
  • George arrives by car but leaves on a motorcycle that had no shown way to reach the party.

Just One Oscar

Robert Towne’s screenplay is the principal choice after comic alternatives.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:48:39Read transcript
  • Robert Towne’s screenplay is the serious choice after comic supporting-performance suggestions.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The group asks whether George gets a salon and whether Lester and Jackie last.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:05Read transcript
  • Whether George ever opens a salon is left unresolved.
  • Whether Lester and Jackie remain together is asked; the panel expects them to separate.
  • George’s later life is imagined as a series of failed salon jobs and possible drug trouble.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

The Triumph, jacket, blow dryer, earring, and Almost Famous/Say Anything props receive distinct preferences.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:50:10Read transcript
  • The Triumph motorcycle is selected despite the speaker’s fear of riding motorcycles.
  • George’s brown leather jacket is considered and criticized as too thin and ordinary.
  • The blow dryer is proposed as a usable studio prop.
  • The earring is selected because the apartment scene spins on it.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Selling out is challenged by the counterlesson that Jill finds a way out.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:53:26Read transcript
  • The film’s apparent lesson that everyone eventually sells out is proposed but challenged.
  • Jill is described as clawing her way out, leaving optimism and hope in the ending.

Best Double Feature

The Parallax View, The Rules of the Game, and Nashville are three distinct pairings.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:54:51Read transcript
  • The Parallax View is selected as the dark counterpart to Beatty’s Shampoo persona.
  • The Rules of the Game is selected for its interrelationships and wistful tone.
  • Nashville is selected as another sprawling, musical, political film from 1975.

More from the conversation

The film is framed as a generational, political, sexual, and social portrait whose comedy carries a darker account of the late 1960s.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:02Read transcript
The discussion recounts Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell song possibilities and treats the rejected “Sweet Bird” as unusually revealing about Warren Beatty’s persona.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:06Read transcript
Selling out is proposed as the film’s central theme, while Jill is described as the one character who opts out and tells George the truth.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:46Read transcript
Cameron Crowe connects Goldie Hawn’s realization scene to Kate Hudson’s similar emotional turn in Almost Famous.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:42Read transcript
The hairdresser’s intimacy with clients is discussed as a source of information, access, and the film’s portrayal of performative sincerity.
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:57Read transcript
Cameron Crowe praises László Kovács’s cinematography and explains how Beatty’s pre-kiss moments influenced Jerry Maguire.
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:47Read transcript
Cameron Crowe recounts casting and directing Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lester Bangs while Hoffman was ill.
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:16Read transcript
The group discusses how major stars use or withhold their public personas, citing Cruise, Denzel Washington, Chalamet, DiCaprio, and Nicholson.
Approx. transcript time · 01:57:47Read transcript