When we fall in love, is love our final destination, or is falling the great allure? And what are the movies but a medium that lets us fall in love with some fresh phantom every week? In other words, whereas movies encourage romance and grow out of attractiveness, they are attached to infidelity, or promiscuity. “Why does Cupid have wings, if not to fly away again?” That line belonged to Beaumarchais once, but since it was quoted in Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game that has become its home. So it's fair to say that screenwriter Robert Towne loved Renoir as much as he did his pal Warren Beatty. And while Shampoo is about a Beverly Hills hairdresser, it is also a tongue-in-cheek (and other places) tribute to one of our iconic movie stars. At the same time, it is a love letter to the changing light in Los Angeles and the instability of American politics.