Five Easy Pieces

Of all the character study movies, most of them are boring. However, Bob Rafelson's "Five easy pieces" was, in my opinion, the most boring of all. In fact, I didn't really see what he was getting at. All I saw was Jack Nicholson playing an extremely depressed man, Karen Black dressed up to be made to sexy as his dumb girlfriend and then there was the rest of the cast. The only good element in this movie is the timeless diner scene which shows just how good an actor Nicholson is. But otherwise, I think it's more of a biography of about a year in a man's life than a character study. I truly and honestly don't think it's worth a watch unless you're a huge Jack Nicholson fan and even if you are, you should watch simply to see the hilarious diner scene.

Bob Rafelson's FIVE EASY PIECES is about inner pain and suffering that just so happens to consume people in all walks of life. It is sometimes hard to watch and Nicholson's character "Robert" is a miserable SOB. However, he is also a very compelling character who affects all around him. He is lonely, he is scared, and he does not know what to do with himself. If you are looking for plot, this is not the picture for you. The only remnants of a plot concern Nicholson's father, a distant memory of his previous prestigious lifestyle as a classical pianist, who has fallen sick. Jack decides to visit his family's estate to pay his last respects. This sets the forum of emotional indifference and misery. He hates his old life, which he left to become a construction worker and has taken up with a flighty waitress played brilliantly by Karen Black. He pretends to enjoy this simple way of living, but he treats Black like the trash he considers her to be and could care less about anyone. Why should anyone see this film? Because Jack Nicholson is one of our greatest actors and he is able to transcend what was put on paper regarding the main character and project raw power and feelings in his own, unique way. The movie is littered with classic scenes, in particular, the chicken salad sandwich scene, one of the funniest I've ever seen. The one I feel that stands out and symbolizes the essence of the film is where Jack plays Chopin in the piano room while Rafelson's camera does a slow 360 around the room, glancing at pictures of his life before he fled from it. It is a perfect mixture of intensity, music, and sadness. The last scene, which ends so abruptly, makes perfect sense within this context. It leaves us feeling empty and unfulfilled, exactly how Nicholson's character feels. This is what makes this character piece all the more powerful.

Karen Black is great in this film and well-deserving of The Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She steals the film from her moody and brooding co-star, Jack Nicholson. Put it this way: subtract Black from the film and you don't have a film worth watching. The story would have been better if the film had told us why Nicholson rejected his family and his musical gifts. Why does he hate everyone that loves him? He doesn't love himself. Why? Why should we sympathize with this man? He has a great girlfriend, a rich family that cares for him, and tremendous natural gifts to play the piano. The last scene in the movie is one of the most pathetic scenes ever filmed. Someone needs to slap Jack and tell him to wake up!! Please!!!

Five Easy Pieces isn't much of a film, despite Jack Nicholson in the main role. Robert's 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's 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?

This film talk about a lot of important things in life, family, relationship, how we treat people that we should care more and how we treat ourselves, it also talk about the period it was made, it's all there, it's a deep film, for example, the song in the opening credits completely describes Karen Black character. Jack Nicholson give a very good performance and the cinematography is also very good.