The stage play "Hair" is primarily remembered now for two things....its shocking frankness and its music. In bringing the musical to the big screen (belatedly), the bulk of the stage version's loose plot was discarded and a more conventional storyline was created to link the songs together. This seems to either please or alienate people, depending on their relationship to the original show. In any case, the great majority of the songs are retained in this filmization which is more than can be said for many, many stage to screen adaptations. And what music! In most cases, the vocalizing even exceeds the quality of what could be found onstage, though the authenticity of the performers is obviously forsaken somewhat as the original cast was LIVING this at the time they were in the show. The film's plot concerns an Oklahoma farm boy (Savage) who's on his way to report for active military duty during Vietnam. He is waylaid in Central Park by a clatch of hippies led by Williams. He also spies the girl of his dreams (D'Angelo), a debutante who rides by on horseback in the midst of all the free love gyrations taking place in the park. The rest of the movie concerns the connections of these characters as they experience culture clash, sharing, understanding and even love. There is copious drug use and rebellion against the wealthy along with hallucinogenic dancing and skinny dipping. Eventually, one character makes a gesture for another which winds up costing more than could ever have been imagined. This moment makes for a hugely poignant ending to what is mostly a light-hearted and ebullient film. True, more than a little of the original subject matter has been tossed aside, but the filmmakers must be credited for (almost) successfully weaving a story around the songs (which are quite varied in their style and content.) The story fails with regard to creating a believable bond between Savage and D'Angelo that would endure the way it does in the story. They hardly spend any time together in the bulk of the film (and quarrel a lot during that!), yet supposedly have this amazing love. "Aquarius" gets the movie to a rousing, eye-opening start and it's just the beginning of many striking, effervescent musical moments in the show. Oddly, the one song that is badly arranged, poorly sung and just basically mangled is the title number! Most of the rest are excellent. NOTHING is better than complete unknown Barnes' rendition of "Easy to be Hard". She knocks the song completely out of the ball park and, sadly and inexplicably, her career went nowhere. Williams is, at times, deliriously sexy here. He comes off as annoyingly arrogant and stubborn at first, but eventually wins the audience over with his innate charm and vibrant talent. As the movie nears it's close, he soars into the hunk stratosphere when, ironically, he cuts his hair. Savage doesn't come off at all like an Oklahoman, but manages to display the contrast of his and Williams' characters. He does an adequate job in all departments throughout. D'Angelo (two years after her jaw-dropping role in "The Sentinel"!) is hardly debutante material and comes off as icy much of the time, but she has her moments as well. Chapin does a bang up job as her brother. The remainder of the hippie gang are acquired tastes. Wright does pretty well, but went nowhere after this. Golden just looks dazed and chews gum incessantly. Dacus is quite weak and does little to enhance the film. What's surprising is how a film that contains lengthy shots of bare breasts, male rear ends (and even split second male frontal nudity) was considered benign enough to warrant a PG rating, yet now, nearly 25 years later, America seems to still have a Puritanical viewpoint towards the human body when compared to other countries. The tide has turned backward from the free love and self-expression era (except in trash like "The Jerry Springer Show" and "Howard Stern".)
