Hi, Mom!

Like its 1968 prequel Greetings, Brian De Palma's satirical 1970 feature Hi, Mom! is an irreverent relic of its time, but one charged with so much countercultural enthusiasm that it remains entertaining despite its dated late-'60s revolutionary attitude. Many of the obsessions of De Palma's later work can be found here in prototypical form, most notably in the film's amusing homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, translated here as the voyeuristic hobby of Jon Rubin (Robert De Niro in a funny early performance), a young New York filmmaker who films neighboring women without their knowledge, hoping to sell his footage to a peepshow pornographer, and eventually wooing one of them (Jennifer Salt) while his camera is rolling in his apartment next door. It just gets crazier, as De Niro joins a militant theater group and ultimately takes part in actual urban-guerilla warfare. Demonstrating a firm command of the medium, De Palma exhibits more humor here than in his later, more serious thrillers, and Hi, Mom! crackles with its kamikaze approach to independent filmmaking in and around the Greenwich Village bohemian scene. Granted, Gen-X (and younger) viewers are likely to be dumbfounded by this film, but it's still a fun showcase for budding talents who would achieve remarkable success in years to come. Presented with a solid digital transfer on an extra-less disc, Hi, Mom! is recommended. (J. Shannon)