Film Forum

(1971) In desperate search for their runaway daughter through East Village hippie enclaves, Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin resort to the ultimate – trying some reefer themselves. Forman’s first American film gives not only the middle class squared, but also those would-be radicals, a comic workout. 35mm. Approx. 93 min.

Reviews

“[The East Village] scene snapshotted with documentary-like verve.”
– Jason Bailey, Flavorwire

“IMPECCABLE. A deft satire of the American counter-culture. The hippie culture, the repression of the suburbs, the toking, the charade of ‘scape’ — it’s all a deeply American farce, taking an outsider to fully appreciate how funny and aimless it all is. Its genius is in the subtlety of its sleights, its ability to slip under the cracks. The farther the ’60s recede into the rear-view mirror, the funnier it gets.”
– Tyler Maxin, Screen Slate 

“Bitterly funny!”
– The A.V. Club

“Whether Taking Off is caricature or dead-on is, presumably, all a matter of perspective and distance, and I can’t resolve it. But it’s definitely hilarious: A deadpan Henry effortlessly dominates as a milquetoast, and the supporting weirdos are all aces. It remains his [Miloš Forman’s] best film in and about America.”
– The Village Voice

“Wackier and more expansive than Forman’s previous films.”
– J. Hoberman