A trio of time travelers -- laid-back time machine inventor Adam-11 (affable David Cassidy), the foxy, but uptight Chanel-6 (winningly played by the gorgeous Olivia d'Abo) and earnest Henz-57 (solid Geoff Hoyle) -- from 2176 go back 200 years to 1976 in order to save the drab future. Jeff and Steve McDonald of Red Kross fame are hilarious as two hip teenagers who help the threesome with their desperate mission. Writer/director Lucas Reiner expertly crafts a loving, lively, and often immensely funny ode to the gloriously tacky'n'tasteless 70's and all the amusingly ridiculous fads which made that particular era so uniquely gaudy, silly, and embarrassing: such things as mood rings, pop rocks, beanbag chairs, the hideous hairstyles and even worse ugly clothes (remember leisure suits, halter tops, and unsightly loud shirts with ghastly mile wide collars?), choice cheesy songs like "Afternoon Delight" and "Kung-Fu Fighting" on the soundtrack, goofy slang ("*Fill-in-the-blank* city!"), groovy disco dancing, 8-track players, and touchy-feely pretentious New Age hogwash are all present and accounted for. Leif Garrett is sheer smarmy perfection as slimy disco stud muffin on wheels Eddie Trogan while Liam O'Brien contributes a suitably obnoxious turn as meddlesome twerp Rodney Snodgrass. Among the folks who pop up in nifty minor parts are Tommy Chong (appropriately cast as a stoner), Barbara Bain, Carl and Rob Reiner, Iron Eyes Cody (spoofing his famous anti-pollution TV commercial), Devo, the Kipper Kids, the ever-adorable Julie Brown, and even Frank Zappa's hottie daughter Moon Unit. Kudos are also in order for the lovably rinky-dink (not so) special effects, David Nichtern's get-down funky score, and Stephen Lighthill's sharp brightly colored cinematography. An absolute gut-buster.
Review of The Spirit of '76
