The film received generally favorable reviews from film critics at the time of its release ; it currently holds a 90 % " fresh " rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes from 20 reviews . Writing in '' The New York Times '' , Vincent Canby called it " a rollicking musical memoir .... Michael Weller 's inventions make this '' Hair '' seem much funnier than I remember the show 's having been . They also provide time and space for the development of characters who , on the stage , had to express themselves almost entirely in song ... . The entire cast is superb ... . Mostly ... the film is a delight . " Frank Rich said : " If ever a project looked doomed , it was this one " ( referring to the " largely plotless " and dated musical upon which it was based , Forman 's and Tharp 's lack of movie musical experience , the " largely unproven cast " and the film 's " grand budget " ) ; but that in spite of these obstacles , " '' Hair '' succeeds at all levels &mdash; as lowdown fun , as affecting drama , as exhilarating spectacle and as provocative social observation . It achieves its goals by rigorously obeying the rules of classic American musical comedy : dialogue , plot , song and dance blend seamlessly to create a juggernaut of excitement . Though every cut and camera angle in '' Hair '' appears to have been carefully conceived , the total effect is spontaneous . Like the best movie musicals of the '50s ( '' Singin ' in the Rain '' ) and the '60s ( '' A Hard Day 's Night '' ) , '' Hair '' leaps from one number to the next . Soon the audience is leaping too . " The film was shown out of competition at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival
1979 Cannes Film Festival
1979 Cannes Film Festival
Hair (film)