Babo 73

Babo 73 (1964)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Robert Downey made his directorial debut with this political satire that has Andy Warhol favorite Taylor Mead playing the President of the United States who finds himself giving off various bits of bad advice while also receiving some even dumber advice.

There's very little "plot" to BABO 73 but it should be noted that there's a sequence early on where a Priest rapes a woman so that pretty much tells you what you're getting into. That scene certainly wasn't graphic or really even shown but its the attempt at laughs that the film goes for. This movie was clearly an influence on some filmmakers like John Waters but at the same time this movie is certainly dated.

The film makes fun of the White House, the government, the President as well as Catholics and just about everything else. The film deserves credit for its style of humor as we pretty much get one joke after another. I'd say that the majority of the jokes just don't work and that the humor hasn't dated well but at the same time you have to give Downey credit for the approach.

Fans of Mead will certainly enjoy seeing him here as he's pretty much all over the place and off the wall as he bounces from one situation to the next. BABO 73 is as experimental as they get and I doubt it will win over most people but it's an interesting picture.

When the opening credits roll over a scene of a monsignor picking up a hitchhiker, driving off road, raping (off-screen) and abandoning her, you know you're in trouble right away.

What follows is a bunch of self-indulgent, incompetent, un-funny dreck. There is no way this ever got beyond a Times Square theatre. At least Downey's later effort, Putney Swopes, had some top-notch nudity and interesting black & white photography. This is just junk.

I had trouble hanging on through my personal cut-off, which is 15 minutes. I did a time-check and was disappointed to find I was still only 11:42 into it. Longest three minutes of my life not counting the end of the first half of your typical 6-3 Ravens-Steelers game in early December.

Taylor Mead is the President of the United States. He is an idiot, and so is everyone around him.

Robert Downey Sr. Directs his first feature movie, and it is a bitter comedy, filled with his random characters, locations, and nonsensical humor. Several of the references convince eme he is aiming it at Lyndon Johnson. There's the usual mixture of wild shots, voice-overs, and Elsie Downey in a small bit.

Starring Andy Warhol superstar Taylor Mead, "Babo 73" is the debut feature film of classic underground filmmaker Robert Downy, Sr. It is an often funny, and sometimes surprisingly insightful satire of American politics. For the most part, this film is highly entertaining fun that provides both obvious and subtle satirical attacks on politics throughout. Taylor Mead's performance is uniquely likable and amusing. Some of the sequences were absolutely hilarious, while others were, unfortunately, a little too disorienting. The editing style of the film is full of charm, but sometimes gets out of hand to the point of making the film unnecessarily confusing and messy.

Despite all of this, I'd definitely still recommend the film for fans of weird and wacky satire that is not afraid to be a little dark and controversial.