I discovered this by accident, and have to wonder why it has been so ignored these last 22 years. Forman's take on the America of the late sixties is a beautiful mood piece, at times amusing, at times moving, but always acted, directed and written with subtlety and wit. I would reccomend this as a definative film about the culture of the Sixties.
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jmerrington10 August 2003
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MarioB4 October 1999This is the first Milos Forman's movie in America. It's still got the European style, a very special way to describe the story. Bourgeois parents tries to find why their quiet teenage girl ran away from home. It's a story about the gap of generation, between the straight parents and the hippies children. Forman present a funny and tender look at the youth of America of the early seventies. While the teenage girl is very gentle and quiet, the parents, who are afraid she will take drugs, get drunk and plays strip poker. The movie is now a little bit of a kind of oldie film! Just a take a look at all those typical seventies long hairs boys and girls, the way they dressed. Kinda funny, like seeing teenagers in a Doris Day movie of the fifties. There are lot of very funny sequences of the young girls singing at an audition for a show. We can see young Carly Simon in it. There is also a sequence with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. I like it, even if it's a little bit old today. It's strange to say that, because I was a teenager myself when this film was shot by Forman.
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albertine simonet23 February 2000A 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.
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Tirelli29 December 1999This 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 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.
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Barrybase21 May 2005I loved this movie when I saw it when it came out. It isn't available on VHS or DVD but I'm fortunate in that I taped it from TV and have it on a Beta tape. I'm lucky I have a Beta player that still works! Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin are wonderful as the parents of a runaway girl. Their efforts to locate her lead to many funny episodes, not the least of which being the fantastic auditions by amateur (aside from Carly Simon) singers. Bobo Bates (yes, Kathy Bates of future fame in "Misery," etc.) sings a touching song called "Even The Horses Had Wings." There is another song which is called "Ode To A Screw" which uses the F-word extensively and is sung by a naked girl whose hair covers her vital parts. There is one hysterical scene where the parents of many runaways, after a meeting, partake in the smoking of pot to see how their children are affected by it. Carlin and Henry eventually bring another couple home with them and play strip poker. When Carlin has to remove her bra, the other husband directs a quip to Henry, "My compliments to the chef!" I have used this line so many times! Allen Garfield, as Norman, has a small but very funny role in the movie. Norman (short and fat) and his friend Schuyler (tall and lanky) meet up with Carlin at the bar in the hotel where she is staying with Henry. After she leaves the bar, Norman follows her to her room, knocks and goes in. The room is dark and Norman says, "It's me, Schuyler," because he has no confidence in himself and thinks he has a better chance of scoring if he says he is Schuyler. Unfortunately for Norman, Henry is there in the bed in the room. Milos Forman has done an incredible job in this innovative movie and it is a shame that it has not been released on DVD.
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Czech director Milos Forman made his American debut with this sweetly-zonked look at the generation gap, circa 1971. Straight, tightly-wound suburban married couple just outside New York City panic when their teenage daughter runs away...but eventually they tire of looking for her ("She's probably out there having fun," the kid's father says, "so why shouldn't we have some fun, goddammit!"). Scenes of the grown-ups letting loose with marijuana experimentation and strip poker are intercut with teenagers auditioning for a musical, and this is where Forman's true talent comes to the fore (he's mad about faces, and passionate about eccentrics and talent). The well-chosen cast (including Buck Henry, Lynn Carlin, Audra Lindley, Paul Benedict, Georgia Engel and Allen Garfield, with music performances from Ike and Tina Turner, Kathy Bates and Carly Simon) is uniformly excellent, though the thin screenplay (penned by Forman with John Guare, Jean-Claude Carrière and John Klein) doesn't give the actors much to work with--they're all flying high on the exuberance of collaboration. Forman's vision is predictably cockeyed, though his pacing is slow and his staging is sometimes puzzling. For instance, is he holding the singers at the audition in esteem with his camera or using them satirically? The blank faces of the judges are probably meant to get a laugh, but their dumbfounded reactions shouldn't dictate what we're experiencing watching them for ourselves. The movie does take off on occasion, but it isn't from energy (Forman doesn't display a temperament, he's of the low-keyed school of filmmaking); the sheer intrinsic delight of showcased talent gives the picture its charge, ultimately making it a unique, quirky bird all its own. **1/2 from ****
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jt199917 July 2003Milos Forman's first American release is part social satire, part farcical look at two morose, middle-class parents (Buck Henry, Lynn Carlin, both outstanding)
who begin to enjoy life only after their teenage daughter (sad-eyed Linnea
Heacock) runs away. At once funny and touching, Forman and veteran Bunuel
collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere ("Belle du Jour," "Diary of a Chambermaid") concoct a simple story of unexpected depth, a wry comedy that unfolds
gradually, gently lampooning marriage and family life while painting a sensitive portrait of the confused, disenfranchised youth scene of the 1960s. Forman
regular Vincent Schiavelli makes his debut here as a bell-bottomed marijuana
"expert," who carefully instructs a banquet hall full of clueless parents in the fine art of getting high. A young Kathy Bates and a spirited Carly Simon appear
briefly singing at a theatrical audition, while Georgia Engel and Audra Lindley turn in subtle, nuanced performances several years before their television
debuts on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Three's Company," respectively.
A beautifully observed, underrated gem. -
kekca4 September 2013I am not in Forman's movies but definitely, if not with his first two, with this one he is able to catch the eye. Especially after his previous one in which he presented man's life through the libido's desires to light fires and of the firmen's to put out fires like the libido put out with age.
Here age again is central theme. People say that every big producer should have done 80's movie about the American teenagers or movie that shows a bathroom. In this we can see both things. How much the generations walk past each other, how much the adults do not remember their past and how much the present of their children is well known to them. Parents are always worried and will worry, that is the system in which we have decided to be. There is choice but is there any boldness? This movie is not comical, not nasty, not joyful, not sad not strange, not boring, not traditional, not well known, maybe reminds of the opposite of all this but is not one of them. Definitely in it is hinted the talent of the producer which for now is staring deeply into the psyche of his personages and slightly is touching social questions which he will rise in hi next movies.
The movie is two-shifted, behind it is the music of the life, the different songs about different moments with different moods in them. It is innovative and it is interesting. But how is made that way I leave to your imagination.
http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/ -
christopher-underwood24 October 2013Having seen director, Milos Forman's two Czech b/w classics, The Fireman's Ball and The Loves of A Blonde (or a blonde In Love, as I knew it) I saw this, his first US film upon its original release. I remember it being controversial although not a big hit, but I loved it. It barely has a narrative story line, no big stars, Buck Henry being the most well known, but it just made me feel good. It wasn't one of those films preaching at one side or the other (that's kids and parents!) and just seemed to present a little of what was happening towards the end of the sixties and derive some good natured humour from it. Watching it again, I was amazed at how well it still works. There are no embarrassing moments, it looks good, sounds good and probably does you good. I have no idea why the recent Park Circus DVD release box is so subdued but then this is not a jazzy, wacky film, just a relaxed, intelligent picture of a very strange time. Wonderful.
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Psychedelic look of America from the famous Milos Forman. Starting very well and end up in weird way from the sixties era, funny sometimes, creative and very experimental cinema and noncommercial too, not for all tastes, a little boring, but never uninteresting, also a rare appearance of Kath Bates singing, some future stars like Carly Simon and Tina Turner, on the ending you are learning how to stop with cigarettes and start smoke Marijuana. Really an odd offering!!
Thanks for reading.
Resume:
First watch: 2017 / How many: 2 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7. -
kc9awa26 August 2005i saw the movie when it came out.it was great .i have told many people about it and wanted them to see it.this was long before video tape machines or even videos were available.i did not know Milo's foreman was the director until i saw a review of his work.i was not surprised to learn of his connection to many of my other favorite films.i cannot come up with ten lines of comment but hope those of you who review these lines of comment that after thirty four years since i saw this movie,i would like it so much i would join your site and writ e this comment.i have always wanted to see this movie again.maybe it will be available on DVD or video.have i made ten lines i hope so.your faithful viewer bill kc9awa
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JasparLamarCrabb10 September 2006Milos Forman's funny and cringe-inducing TAKING OFF is a satire of America in the late 60s/early 70s. In a way, it's a darker version of THE GRADUATE...with Forman tipping his hat to that film by casting Buck Henry as a father reluctantly looking for his daughter and getting caught up in some really goofy situations like attending a convention of parents who've lost their kids...not through murder or kidnapping, but through running away. Given the complete inappropriateness of the parents presented here, it's no wonder the younger generation has taken off! Forman has the parents get hysterical about the loss of their children only to have their tirades morph into bouts of self pity and recklessness...at one point Henry, wife Lynn Carlin and another couple end up in a round of strip poker. While the parents TRY to be more understanding of what their kids are up to, they inevitably end up seeming even more square! There's a very funny scene in which the always creepy Vincent Schiavelli demonstrates how to smoke a joint.
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clifton jack9 May 2000I 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.
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I first read about this movie when I looked at the "Harvey Lampoon" annual worst movie lists in a movie source book and it mentioned Buck Henry's losing in a strip poker game. I later found out it was directed by Milos Forman a few years before winning the Oscar for One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest which increased my curiosity factor. What I found fascinating about this movie was that despite being initially about a teenage girl (Linnea Heacock) running away and her father (Henry) looking for her, it goes on other tangents like to a musical audition that the teen girl goes to which features some good performances like that of an about-to-emerge Carly Simon or another singer named Bobo Bates who would later win an Oscer as Kathy Bates. Or when Henry goes to a café, looks at pictures of other missing teens, finds a picture of one already there and contacts the number of that teen's mother (Audra Lindley) who we find out is a member of the Society for the Parents of Lost Children. That leads to another scene of her, Buck, and their spouses (Paul Benedict and Lynn Carlin, respectively) going to some ball where they take some marijuana from Vincent Schiavelli which leads to that strip poker game. Other notable appearances are those of Georgia Engel, Allen Garfield, and the Ike and Tina Turner Revue at a concert appearance. The movie goes from the quietly dramatic to the absurdly comical in natural progression and doesn't have a clear-cut ending but it's such a nonlinear treat, one doesn't care by then. Unfortunately, since Taking Off has never been on Beta, VHS, or DVD, it wasn't until it just emerged on YouTube that I finally got to see this...
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grumbovin30 October 2005I saw this film 20 times i a row,- as a 5 to 6 years old kid,-(i had free access to a "Radical" cinema in Copenhagen , Denmark at "Husets Biograf" , where i also saw "2001" and all the films by Gunther Grass and Werner Hersog, 10 to 20 times i a row ! )-in the 70's-it blew my mind ,-and taught me something about Pot and,-grownups!!! I liked it then,- and i like it now ! i really like the scene where the girl has her boyfriend - who is a musician , playing in a band - home for dinner, and her father -pitifull-ask how much money he earn as a musician !!!(he earns more than the father!!! )-and the "Learn to smoke pot"-scene is a classic ! (Seen By Mikkel Grum Bovin Denmark)
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lunchbill9 August 2005I just watched this on TVO, having lucked upon it while grazing stations. I am amazed I'd never even heard of this film before. From the first second I was engaged. It is, I think, the single best portrait of the social climate of the early 1970s that I have ever seen. Easy Rider is the only other film that I know of that perfectly captures the feeling of that time period, though I find Easy Rider to be indulgent, where this film is modest and understated. All the performances are wonderful. The girl who played the daughter, Linnea Heacock, is utterly captivating, as is David Gittler, as the rock star, Jamie. (I can find no record of other performances by either actor.) There's a hilarious scene with a young Vincent Schiavelli, where he explains to a bunch of older parents how to smoke pot. The direction is smart though not intrusive, which is very rare. Watch for Carly Simon and Cathy Bates in tiny roles. This film is a real delight. I only wish it were on DVD.
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When the father sits in the park doing his anti-smoking meditation, a black man with a turban walks by. As he balls his raised fist, the brother sees this and returns the salute, after which the father, embarrassed, acts as if he was just stretching and shakes his arm nervously.
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kurtralske28 October 2021NYC went through a rough time in the 70s and 80s. It was a dangerous, lawless, decadent place. That's NYC we know from so many gritty movie portrayals: the brutal world of Taxi Driver, The French Connection, Serpico, Across 110th St, or the wild decadent world of Midnight Cowboy, Joe, Ciao Manhattan, Warhol's Chelsea Girls. Director Milos Forman's "Taking Off" captures that same NYC, but seen through an affectionate, playful lens. The result is an unconventional, deadpan, charming time-capsule that sometimes strikes comedy gold. There's an endless parade of quirky folks making fools of themselves, but Forman presents them sweetly: we laugh at them, but not in a mean-spirited way: because they're just adorable idiots trying to be free...just like the rest of us. Buck Henry is wonderful as the uptight, long-suffering dad, his deadpan performance a master class in blank comedy. And the film is a character actor's paradise, with memorable appearances by Vincent Schiavelli, Paul Benedict, and numerous open mic hopefuls. Milos Forman's previous film, the Czech 1967 The Fireman's Ball overlaps heavily with Taking Off's good-natured irreverence, with extra satirical bite delivered to any character who claims moral authority. Forman's seems to say "Ah humans, they're so absurd and adorable!" Maybe it took a newly-arrived Czech emigre to reveal 1971 NYC's hidden sweetness to itself.
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Milhaud8 October 1999This movie is very slow, uneventful and not entertaining at all. It is difficult to believe that it has been done by the man who gave us "Hair" and "Amadeus". However, I did appreciate the last twenty minutes, where you can clearly see the paradox of the parents worrying about the behavior of their child while behaving as decadent people themselves, and then the supper with their girl's boyfriend, where again you can see that your head is not necessarily empty just because you have lots of hair on it...
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taylor988528 January 2003Milos Forman is settling in to America here, learning the ways of rich Puritans. The casting is just about perfect; I don't recall Buck Henry being as expressive--in that deadpan way--in a movie. The scene between Georgia Engel and Lynn Carlin, in which Engel relates stories of her husband's incredible sexual drive is wonderfully funny. The strip poker scene between Henry, Carlin and their guests Audra Lindley and Paul Benedict, that ends with Henry singing an aria, naked, on top of the dining-room table has passed into cinematic legend.
Miroslav Ondricek's camera work is really exceptional; it makes a success of one scene that drags on too long--the therapy group with the participants smoking reefer. Ondricek's ability to give life to interiors is amazing: see how he cuts from the ancestral paintings to the would-be dopers, making comments on both. This man, who turns 70 this year, is a master, and if I just give a partial list of his work you will know what I mean: The Fireman's Ball, If..., O Lucky Man!, Hair, Amadeus. -
Milos Forman's first American feature is little known today, as it has not yet found its way onto VHS or DVD (though it has been aired on the Sundance Channel). Taking Off's obscurity is unfortunate because it is one of the funnier satiric comedies of its era that deals with hippiedom's spillover effects on the parental generation. Long Island teenager Jeannie Tyne (Linnea Heacock) goes missing—mistakenly presumed to have run away—after an audition in the city. When Jeannie's staid, middle-class parents Larry (Buck Henry) and Lynn (Lynn Carlin) Tyne set out to look for her they end up having their own life-expanding adventures with booze, marijuana, and other decadent distractions. Written by Forman, Jean-Claude Carrière (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), John Guare (Atlantic City), and Joe Klein, Taking Off is a good-natured, episodic farce with some great moments. These include a young pothead (character actor Vincent Schiavelli) rather pompously instructing a banquet room full of concerned parents in black tie and gowns on the finer points of smoking marijuana—to educate themselves on the counterculture, of course. Equally hilarious is an infamous audition scene featuring a cherubic but naked teenage girl (Mary Mitchell) delicately plucking a lute while sweetly singing "Ode to a Screw," a paean to the sex act peppered with the F-word. Also auditioning is a then-unknown Carly Simon and Kathie Bates (billed as Bobo Bates!) in her first film role. Praised by critics for its genial humor, Taking Off won The Grand Prize of the Jury and a Golden Palm nomination at Cannes in '71 and a half dozen 1972 BAFTA nominations.
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benwa4u27 July 2004I'd love to see this again, even if just a rented VHS. I see that it's not out on DVD. Was it ever out on tape?
I loved this when I saw it. But it was only the once, and I don't think I even got a chance to finish it. (It was one of very few tapes on an Alaskan fishing vessel, and it wasn't very popular with the rest).
Spoilers follow:
I remember the daughter that they'd thought still run-away discovering her father (Buck Henry) standing nude on the table, singing. And I remember her boyfriend, who'd suprised her father by looking like a broke hippie, but turned out to earn $90k a year. I remember some of the auditions. I remember the lessons given to the parents on how to smoke pot (killer scene!). I remember a lot of mold breaking, but I'm sad that I don't have the opportunity to see this again.
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normanemailer18 October 2020Vincent Schiavelli who plays Bentley has his own surname in the cast list. IMDB I suggest this is an error that you might be responsible for. If not IMDB's fault they should have checked.
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nnwahler4 August 2023"Taking Off" was Czech director Milos Forman's first movie in exile, his American debut. The story behind this film is an incredible one: having stirred up controversy with his last native film, 1967's "The Fireman's Ball", Forman was all but blacklisted over there and had to seek refuge in the best country he could find. Forman (with co-writer John Guare) threw himself into the current movie with the same passion he did his previous efforts. Trouble was, the Universal execs didn't like the script, saying (accurately) that no one would see it; so the company gave Forman a nominal deal that he only take in a share of the profits. The film flopped, and Forman, trapped in NYC, was left with only the sketchiest knowledge of the English language and a year-long struggle to obtain a green card. He was fortunate enough to have a tiny handful of fellow countrymen as connections, and he would firmly establish himself in 1975.
"Taking Off" involves a runaway teen (Linnea Heacock) whose parents (Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin), in her absence, try with the assistance of other parents to connect with the younger generation. This partly is done at a "reefer clinic" whose professor (Vincent Schiavelli, who'd instantly become director Forman's chief ensemble player) shows the grownups how to smoke a joint. Paul Benedict, who'd go on to become the English neighbor in the sitcom "The Jeffersons", is another cast member.
The film's title can refer to the youngster's running away, or to the parents' initiation/indoctrination, or even the penultimate scene which I won't reveal to you.
The present movie, shot on a shoestring budget, never made it to US home video and, through the decades, only was shown sporadically on syndicated TV. I'd speculate that a few of the supporting players--including Carly Simon--have held out for a higher royalty rate. I was wise enough to tape it first on Beta, then transfer it to VHS and later DVD-R.