Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This movie should be watched at a maximum quality possible because it is so well directed, so well filmed, so well edited that it makes watching it a wonderful visual adventure.There were times I watched with my mouth open (the part where both couples sit at the table drunk and stoned, the clapping there is pleasure to watch as an upcoming editor).Also the beginning is amazing with the music and the music selection in general is so pleasing. A bit chaotic and not fully comprehensible, music is like a cherry on the top. This movie is so beautiful you don't even notice that the story-line is weak and a bit absurd.

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 ****

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.

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.