Five Easy Pieces
Composite Score: 85.13
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, Susan Anspach, Ralph Waite, William Challee, and John P. Ryan
Director: Bob Rafelson
Writers: Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson
Genres: Drama, Comedy, Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Box Office: $18.10 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Five Easy Pieces is Bob Rafelson’s film about an oil rig worker who returns to his life of wealth and music when he learns that his father has fallen ill. The film comes from the prime of the New Hollywood movement and revels in its themes of isolation and disaffection while focusing heavily on the performances of its stars and the fairly true-to-life settings where they perform. It stars Jack Nicholson in the leading role of Robert Eroica Dupea – a former piano prodigy now working on oil rigs in southern California – joined by Karen Black as his waitress girlfriend Rayette, Billy Green Bush as his easygoing friend/coworker Elton, Lois Smith as his sister Partita, Ralph Waite as his brother Carl, and Susan Anspach as Carl’s beautiful young paramour Catherine Van Oost. In addition to its critical acclaim, the film also received nominations for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Lead Actor (Nicholson), and Best Supporting Actress (Black).
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Being a film about disaffection and isolation, Five Easy Pieces can be a draining experience for any audience. Bobby’s constant refusal to build any healthy human connection grates on the sensibilities of viewers looking to root for the protagonist’s growth, rewarding them instead with a stubbornly static lead character who brings down the whole atmosphere of the room at every turn. It’s a strong performance from Nicholson, but it also leaves you with very little hope for the likes of him. The film grimly addresses the state of humanity as increasingly isolated (ironically apropos for a modern audience, given its 1970 release) and leaves no actual alternative because that’s just how we are. (Now, this is a fairly bleak watching of the film, and I do admit that the film does actually offer human connection to Bobby, but he’s incapable of accepting it because of his self-deprecating nature.) There’s a sense of inevitability to the film’s conclusion that eventually we’ll all just drift away from each other because we refuse to love ourselves, and I think that line of reasoning only takes you so far because, to love yourself, you have to have received healthy love at some point before that. As much as the film wants to make this sweeping statement about humanity isolating ourselves, it can’t quite say it convincingly because of the many people in Bobby’s life who do crave connection with him and love him fairly unconditionally.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
The most laudable aspect of Five Easy Pieces comes in the form of its actors, who wallow in the muck of cultural malaise with the rest of us brilliantly. Waite and Anspach provide a one-two punch in their interconnected roles of Carl and Catherine, offering a perspective on what Bobby could have had if he chose to stay in his old life rather than leave to become a veritable vagrant. Ralph Waite presents a bumbling and inept fool – showing just how little Bobby could have done to remain acclaimed had that been his choice – and it’s a sadly comic performance as he plays the pitiable fool to the rest of the family. Anspach’s Catherine exists at the other end of the spectrum – talented, alluring, and entirely unattainable – representing the “best” version of Bobby’s life with a skillful aloofness that only adds to her mystique. Meanwhile, Lois Smith provides a more relatable, grounded version of the trappings of wealth in “Tita”, showing love to those around her while forever longing to be loved in return. It’s a moving performance that adds more tragedy to the story as a whole and Bobby’s in particular that fully endears herself to the audience in the process. Karen Black, in her Oscar-nominated performance as Rayette, exemplifies everything that Bobby thought he wanted but now can’t stand. It’s a masterful performance as a woman scorned, a manic lover, and social climber all rolled into one that really holds down the darkly comedic moments of this emotional drama. Really, though, it’s Nicholson’s leading performance that serves as the film’s driving force, drawing you in with his requisite charisma and breaking your heart over and over as he refuses to do anything but self-destruct. It’s a challenging role that he thrives in, particularly in the film’s third act where he shows off just enough emotion to keep the audience hopeful going into the final scenes, betraying the potential for a heart in the midst of all that self-loathing.
Driven by its cast of talented actors toward an end of veritable hopelessness for the human condition, Five Easy Pieces forces you to ponder our current state while earning itself a spot among the greats. Its bleak outlook might not be the most tenable in the long-term, but the thoughts it gets stirring might be enough to galvanize you into proactive relationships. It is currently available to rent on most streaming services for those looking to check it out in the near future.
