Taking Off

I first saw this in 1989. It was old then, but nearly 20 years later its just as fresh and witty. Superb sound editing, great comic set pieces (the how to smoke a joint scene or the black salute), poignant (finding the smokes in the Jeannie's room with "Even the white horses" playing), the music performances (Ode to a Screw) and such acute observation of American Society. Nothing is missed: the comic potential of the fact that there is a "Society for the Parents of Lost Children(SPLC)", the realization that it is the parents who are lost; the lucrative potential of the counter culture and the "establishment's" realization of this (best seen in the hilarious speech by Jeanies boyfriend toward the end). Much of the comedy is drawn from the characters' little crises in their lives and their attempts to solve them, but it is always a warm and affectionate comedy. Forman likes these people, he likes America, he's willing them on, every slightly misguided step of the way.

This is one of the most curiously delightful films I have ever seen. From the first few minutes until it's very end, 'Taking Off' offers an uniquely gentle vision of the confused 70s generation, it's hopes and wishes, and their problematic relationships with their respective, old-fashioned, hypocritical parents. Larry and Lynn Tyne are the heads of a typical american family, with their respective neurosis and worries targeted to their daughter Jeannie, lovely Linnea Hancock, and her taking drugs and the company that surrounds her. As she 'takes off' from home, their parents begin to seek for her, and as the seek continues, their degree of closeness is increased, while them both become absolutely degenerate and carefree - as they judge the new generation to be.

Forman presents a simple story that smoothly develops itself into a thoughtful character study about the gap of generations, presented in a fashion never seen before, and most enjoyable, scoring once again by bringing his innovative directing style from Europe to America for the first time, and with a modest budget and unknown stars, with the honorable exception of Buck Henry, Ike and Tina Turner and a very, very young Carly Simon( Singing A Remarkable Ballad, That Goes Like This - Long Term Physical Effects Are Not Yet Known... So, I'll Just Take Another Drag, And Just Get Stoned!(...) Short Term Physical Effects Are So Groovey!)

You may glimpse a young Jessica Harper during my favorite sequence, the audition one. The characters you'll find during this are simply... unforgettable. :)

So, just enjoy this underrated gem, 'with a smile on your face and a heart to embrace', a faithful portrait of youth, hypocrisy, and seemingly contained parents.

I saw this movie on it's original release and was mightily impressed. I'd previously seen Forman's "The Fireman's Ball" and liked the quirky style that he repeats so well with this one. The tale of the confused parents trying desperately to understand their "wayward" daughter is gently told but is bitingly satirical. I will never forget scenes of the parents attending the seminar on how to smoke a joint and the convention for the parents of fugitive children. So where has this movie gone? I checked out the on line video store here in the UK to find that it was deleted in 92. Great shame, it's a classic.

A wonderful American debut from Milos Forman, who transcends a rather schematic premise ('wayward' daughter is actually quite sensible, while bourgeois parents enter a counterculture of pot-smoking and (nearly) wife-swapping orgies) with his wise European eye, which mixes clear-eyed observation with fantasy, implausibility and farce. The lead couple are acted in such a low key, you're astonished at the emotional power they generate, and while the subject matter is quite depressing, Forman's comic benevolence is always foregrounded: the convention for parents of missing children, and the accompanying lesson in parental empathy, is an American classic.

I remember seeing this on tv years ago. The scene that stands out in my memory is the one where, at a seminar, Paul Benedict (Mr. Bentley from Tv's The Jefferson's) schools a group of middle aged parents on the proper way to smoke marijuana. They do this so that they may better understand their children. A scene that really belongs in a late 60's/early 70's time capsule. It is a halarious classic scene that alone makes the film worth seeing. Hopefully this title will be out on video soon.