Five Easy Pieces (1970)

After years doing Roger Corman quickies, Jack Nicholson emerged as a fully-formed mature actor in this great movie. I re-watched this film last week, and I still love it. Based partly on the life of eccentric Canadian concert pianist Glenn Gould, this is a wonderful character study of Bobby Dupea (Nicholson) who seems to have everything: musical talent, education, supportive family - but who, as the by-line says "is never satisfied". He tosses it in to work on oil rigs. His father's illness forces him to return to the family home on Puget Sound, bringing his girlfriend Rayette (beautifully played by Karen Black). What emerges is a clash of class and culture with Nicholson stuck between, enraged at both his background and Rayette. What is so wonderful is that information & character emerge thru small moments. (One of my favourites is Nicholson's piano-playing during the traffic jam). Nicholson shows the many sides of this talented drifter; a man who can be both charming and appallingly selfish. The cast is uniformly excellent, and the music of Tammy Wynette adds ironic commentary to the unfolding events.A classic film.

Fmovies: In 1969, Jack Nicholson made his big break in "Easy Rider", and the very next year, he got his first lead role in another "easy": "Five Easy Pieces". He plays Robert Eroica "Bobby" Dupea, a man from a well-off musical family. Bobby has given up his potential, choosing instead to work in the oil fields. Angry and with no goal in life, he spends most of his time drinking, partying, and ignoring his girlfriend Rayette Dipesto (Karen Black). Then, his father has a stroke, forcing Bobby to visit his family. Staying with his family prompts him to not only reconsider the path that he has chosen in life, but to reevaluate his whole existence, and how he abandoned his talent.

"Five Easy Pieces" was one of the movies that affirmed the new direction that the movie industry was taking in the late '60s and early '70s. Ten years earlier, they might have given the movie an idiotically sugary ending, but the movie does not have such an ending. The ending not only shows how unhappy Bobby is, but also the sense of cynicism that had come to pervade the country. A 10/10.

Of course, the really famous scene happens in the restaurant. Although that was probably just thrown in for comic relief, it truly is a classic.

This incredible movie would have to be one of Jack Nicholson and the totally underrated Karen Black's finest hours (and a half!). This would probably be my favourite movie of all time and though you might find it initially depressing you too will find many instances of black humour with repeated viewings. Everybody and their dog always raves about the chicken salad sandwich diner scene and the dialogue between the main character and his invalid father but for my money the money shot is when Bobby first tells Rayette he has to visit his family ALONE and as he tries to leave without her (which wouldve ended up being the most humane thing he does in the film!!) he finds his car wont start at the crucial moment and he completely loses it in his car cursing a lotta four letter words under his breath. I wont go into the details of what this film is about but its thoroughly entertaining and works on many levels. Fans of this sort of drama should check out WHEN YOU COMIN BACK, RED RYDER as well for superb character breakdowns also. If you thought the main character in Michael Leigh's NAKED was a miserable lost soul on a road to nowhere you aint seen nothing yet til you check out Jack in this!! A complete masterpiece from beginning to end. Great soundtrack with Tammy Wynette by the way and Karen Black shows off her awesome vocal style as well......

Five Easy Pieces fmovies. "Five Easy Pieces" was one of the most revered films of the 1970s. It was the film that showed audiences what Jack Nicholson could do, after having worked for many years in movies that were seen only by real cinephiles, but not by a wider audiences. Not having seen the film in a long time, we decided to watch it when it showed on cable recently. The only thing is the copy we saw was not anamorphic in format, which on key scenes almost shows a blank screen while the characters talk off camera!

Bob Rafelson and Carole Eastman created a screen play that dealt with existential themes, a rarity in the American cinema. Mr. Rafelson was at the height of his creative period, something that later projects seem to contradict the promise he showed at the time.

Bobby Dupea, the main character of the story, is a complex individual who has left a life of privilege and culture behind to become an oil rig worker and getting away from his previous life. At the time we meet him, he is involved with Rayette, a simple woman who loves him, but one can see how different they are. That contrast comes more obvious when Bobby goes back home and meets Catherine, his brother's fiancée, who is a musician and seem to be more attuned with Bobby than the simple minded Rayette.

"Five Easy Pieces" was a film that showcased the enormously talented Jack Nicholson doing some interesting work. The measure of his acting ability is seen about half way in the movie as Bobby, Rayette, and the two lesbian hitchhikers have stopped at a diner. Bobby's meal order request creates a match of words in which Mr. Nicholson shows what he is capable of doing.

The film concludes with a puzzling scene, as Bobby and Rayette are heading back home. We watch them stopping at a gas station and little prepares us for what happens next. In a way, we have seen all along the film how restless Bobby has become and it's clear that in spite of his being with Rayette, she will never understands how to make him happy at all.

The reason for watching "Five Easy Pieces" is Jack Nicholson. His character is the most interesting one in the film and he does an excellent job in creating the tension behind this complex man he portraits. Karen Black's Rayette is annoying at times because of her whining. Susan Anspach comes out better playing Catherine. Some other familiar faces in the cast are, Sally Struthers, Ralph White, Lois Smith, Billy Green Bush and Fannie Flagg.

"Five Easy Pieces" is one of the best films of that decade.

In discussing films with extraordinary characterization, Bob Rafelson's "Five Easy Pieces" is an exemplary example. The film is an intense character study of an alienated, misfit drifter who seems to have no specific direction or place in life. Jack Nicholson brings to life Robert Dupea, a man who has considerable natural musical talent, but has rejected that life and his family who is also musically talented. There are hints throughout the film that Robert had great promise as a concert pianist if only he had stuck with it. He contains many of the creative personality characteristics that would predispose him to musical greatness. Psychologists who study creativity have found that generally creative people contain a number of specific personality characteristics. Robert contains many of them, but has generally abandoned creating anything.

I would first like to comment on why I feel the film received the title, "Five Easy Pieces". I at first thought that it might be because Robert plays piano five times throughout the film. But in a second viewing, I counted and he only played piano four times, including the time where he mimics playing the piano at the dinner table when discussing his experience playing in Las Vegas. I pondered a little further and realized that the title was likely spawned from the five classical pieces listed in the introductory credits; Chopin's Fantasy in F minor, Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, Mozart's E-flat major concerto, Chopin's Prelude in E minor, and finally Mozart's Fantasy in D minor. I myself am not a musician, but other people who do play music have told me that these pieces are somewhat difficult to play. But Robert can sit down and play them with no problem. In this sense, the title "Five Easy Pieces" is somewhat ironic.

One of the main characteristics of creative people is 'alienation'. I will discuss this concept first because alienation is one of the central themes of the film. The alienation that lies in Robert is a direct result of his lack of direction towards any one particular life. In his case, one life would be the average working class type of person and the other would be that of a musician. Robert seems to be caught somewhere between the two. He came from a talented, musically oriented family and was at one point, a promising pianist, but now engages in a common, working class lifestyle where he drinks beer, bowls, listens to country music and chases after women. But it is evident that he does not feel settled in this lifestyle. He is as much of a misfit among the common community as he is among the musical atmosphere of Puget Sound. In essence, he is a nowhere type of man.

Robert also displays the personality characteristic of 'naivete', meaning that a person tends to act somewhat child-like. Creative people tend to be quite impulsive and open to emotional display, and are quite often labeled as temperamental. Poet, Earl Birney states that "poets might just be people who have not overgrown their love for poetry as a child". Many researchers have theorized that the creator is like a child. Schiller argues that you can not create if your intellect (a uniquely adult attribute) hinders you. Another theorist, Osborne argues that to be creative one must eliminate the mature, intellectual attitude, and that creative people are able to resist premature judgements through the use of brainstorming techniques, producing many ideas and alternatives. Freud said that both the child and the

This movie is most famous for a scene in which Jack Nicholson tells a waitress to hold the chicken salad between her knees so he can get some plain wheat toast, but, in a movie as good as this, that very famous scene may be its least memorable one. After that scene, I hadn't heard anything about what this film was really about, and its depth and power took me completely by surprise. It's a story of a man trapped in his own life, unable to find a place to settle. All the locations at which he has arrived have lead to nothing but disappointment and the realization that there just might not be a life for him. God, how I can sympathize. Just as I was starting to question whether Nicholson was as good an actor as everybody seems to think he is, I've come upon his very best performance. Karen Black plays his girlfriend, a hick who loves him to death. He's not sure if she's good enough for him, or vice versa. Lois Smith, Ralph Waite, and Susan Anspach give good supporting performances. A flat-out masterpiece.