Taking Off

Taking Off (1971) is Miloš Forman's first American feature — a dry, warm comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM. Teenager Jeannie disappears from the family home without a note. Her parents Larry and Lynn spend the night looking for her, fall in with a support group of other parents whose kids have also run off, and gradually begin to realize that the search says more about them than about Jeannie.

Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin play the couple with an unglamorous honesty that keeps the film funny without turning cruel. Forman, fresh from Czechoslovakia, observed American suburban life as an outsider — and that distance gives every scene a quiet, affectionate absurdity. The film includes a performance by Tina Turner and won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1971.

Stream Taking Off (1971) online on iFILM.