Five Easy Pieces stars Jack Nicholson as an oil rig worker who spends his life mistreating his girlfriend (a delightfully nuts Karen Black), bowling and sleeping around. After finding out his father is sick, he returns home to a very different way of life.
Nicholson is obviously one of the main elements that makes this movie great, but the rest of the cast give as good as they get and the script is astute. Anyone who feels persecuted by familial expectations can relate to this character and meet him at least halfway in his actions, but the beauty of the script is that for the most part of the film we don't understand why he does the things he does. The slow reveal is compelling and Nicholson's performance absorbing. The film is paced slow and introspective, never spoon feeding the audience how to interpret like so many films these days. Director Bob Rafelson (who later went on direct Nicholson in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Man Trouble and Blood and Wine) is not particularly showy, allowing the characters to tell the story, but his subtle visuals add depth to certain scenes, such as Nicholson's Bobby playing piano whilst the camera pans around the room over photographs showing the life he was meant to have. The ending is surprising and at the same time inevitable, guaranteed to leave you thinking about it after the credits end.
Anyone interested in character driven films should check this out. This is also one of Nicholson's most controlled performances, up there with Carnal Knowledge, Cuckoo's Nest and About Schmidt.
Nicholson is obviously one of the main elements that makes this movie great, but the rest of the cast give as good as they get and the script is astute. Anyone who feels persecuted by familial expectations can relate to this character and meet him at least halfway in his actions, but the beauty of the script is that for the most part of the film we don't understand why he does the things he does. The slow reveal is compelling and Nicholson's performance absorbing. The film is paced slow and introspective, never spoon feeding the audience how to interpret like so many films these days. Director Bob Rafelson (who later went on direct Nicholson in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Man Trouble and Blood and Wine) is not particularly showy, allowing the characters to tell the story, but his subtle visuals add depth to certain scenes, such as Nicholson's Bobby playing piano whilst the camera pans around the room over photographs showing the life he was meant to have. The ending is surprising and at the same time inevitable, guaranteed to leave you thinking about it after the credits end.
Anyone interested in character driven films should check this out. This is also one of Nicholson's most controlled performances, up there with Carnal Knowledge, Cuckoo's Nest and About Schmidt.