**SPOILERS AHEAD**
Fantasy about a 24 year old multimillionaire Max (Christopher Jones) getting the voting age lowered to 14, becoming president and putting away anyone over the age of 30 in concentration camps and giving them daily doses of LSD. Believe it or not, this was taken seriously by some critics when it came out! C'mon!!! The plot is ridiculous!
I like it on a comedy level, but the movie has some very cruel moments. A little boy is hit and killed by a car (with long views of his bloody body); there's constant drug abuse treated as cute; older people are forced into taking drugs; a man hangs himself and the concentration camp plot is really repulsive. Also, almost all the characters are unlikable--especially the teenagers. That's kind of strange considering this is geared to a teen audience (who did like it).
I find it fun. The plot moves quickly, the songs are surprisingly good and there's some imaginative use of split screen. As for the acting--Shelley Winters is extremely annoying as Maxs' mother. She's not funny--just shrill. Diane Varsi is constantly drugged out as one of Max's girlfriends but she's very funny--her speech in front of Congress is hilarious. And Christopher Jones--he's very handsome and can sing really good, but has zero charisma and is a lousy actor. He comes across as a spoiled brat--I wanted to take him over my knee and spank him! Also he should not do shirtless scenes when his body is that out of shape.
Still, I enjoy it. As Leonard Maltin said, it's enjoyable on a non-think level. Recommended.
Fantasy about a 24 year old multimillionaire Max (Christopher Jones) getting the voting age lowered to 14, becoming president and putting away anyone over the age of 30 in concentration camps and giving them daily doses of LSD. Believe it or not, this was taken seriously by some critics when it came out! C'mon!!! The plot is ridiculous!
I like it on a comedy level, but the movie has some very cruel moments. A little boy is hit and killed by a car (with long views of his bloody body); there's constant drug abuse treated as cute; older people are forced into taking drugs; a man hangs himself and the concentration camp plot is really repulsive. Also, almost all the characters are unlikable--especially the teenagers. That's kind of strange considering this is geared to a teen audience (who did like it).
I find it fun. The plot moves quickly, the songs are surprisingly good and there's some imaginative use of split screen. As for the acting--Shelley Winters is extremely annoying as Maxs' mother. She's not funny--just shrill. Diane Varsi is constantly drugged out as one of Max's girlfriends but she's very funny--her speech in front of Congress is hilarious. And Christopher Jones--he's very handsome and can sing really good, but has zero charisma and is a lousy actor. He comes across as a spoiled brat--I wanted to take him over my knee and spank him! Also he should not do shirtless scenes when his body is that out of shape.
Still, I enjoy it. As Leonard Maltin said, it's enjoyable on a non-think level. Recommended.