Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Five Easy Pieces isn't much of a film, despite Jack Nicholson in the main role. Robert is simply an a-hole and nothing much happens.Rayette and Catherine are the two characters which really give the film some life. The one whom Robert wants to be with and the one whom Robert is with but doesn't want to be. I can love a film where I dislike the main character, but there isn't much of a story here. That Elton character was bloody horrible, the two hitchhikers were as well and those two girls from the bowling alley, so many empty wasteful scenes. Despite all that and an unlikable main character, there was some good in it, not nearly enough though.Catherine: You're a strange person, Robert. I mean, what will you come to? If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something - how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?

Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a worker on a Californian oil rig. He lives with his girlfriend Rayette and their relationship is starting to cool. Upon visiting his sister in Los Angeles, Bobby discovers that his father is gravely ill. He travels to Washington state to see him, but this forces many sore subjects with his family to come to the fore.Had potential but is clumsily written and the main theme is underdeveloped. The scene setting has far too many sub-plots that go nowhere and just seem like drama for the sake of drama. Even once the movie starts to find its focus - when Bobby visits his father - there are still several detours and digressions that lead nowhere and add nothing.Other than padding the movie, the other effect of these digressions is to lessen the weight and impact of the main theme - Bobby turning his back on his upbringing and father's wishes, and his reconciliation with his father. This is massively underdeveloped, and the is basically only explored in any detail in one scene. Even then this scene, which should have been the climax of the movie, is pretty short and shallow.Can't fault Jack Nicholson's performance in the lead role, a performance for which he got his second Oscar nomination (after Easy Rider, a year earlier) and first Best Actor nomination. Karen Black was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Rayette. Some of the supporting cast's performances are quite cringeworthy though, with Billy Green Bush (as Elton) overacting and Ralph White (as Carl) just plain annoying.

'Five Easy Pieces' is a tough one to review. It all comes down to excellent acting with material that is a little muddled. Nicholson is obviously very good in it as is Karen Black but I just felt the writing wasn't all that strong in how it developed it's characters. We get that Nicholson's character is trying to abandon his privilege because of tremendous guilt and yet his motivations are just too vague and inaccessible to the audience. Nicholson has a beautiful scene with his father who has suffered a stroke but otherwise the character is just too unlikeable especially given how much he abuses his girlfriend Rayette. In films with these subversive rebels we need a strong sense of what they are rebelling against. His home life just doesn't seem to be enough. It has two great performances but it was by and large kind of disappointing.

An effective, emotionally ravaging story concerning a drifter who runs away from his problems and picks up every odd job he can find. Nicholson has that magnetic quality that few actors possess so well, and his strong, utterly superb performance drives this film all the way through. Although it does bog down from time to time, director Bob Rafelson displays his mastery of the art of subtlety, using this for most of the film, before nailing his most important scenes with sudden outbursts from his characters that catch you off guard. Nicholson's character is definitely flawed, and he's a time-bomb ready to explode at any moment, but his mysterious character always keeps you glued to your seat, and the end of the film is just perfect beyond words.