"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.

`Five Easy Pieces' is basically a youth movie. Jack Nicholson plays a young man who leaves his cultured home to work on oilrigs in Texas. He is crude and lives his life around getting drunk and picking up dippy young girls, (well played by Sally Struthers). He lives with Rayette, an uneducated waitress, who he mistreats. He mistreats most people in this movie relying on his charm to get through life. He makes fun of his brother, Carl, and has sex with his fiancé. I did not like the character of Robert Dupea. He used people then abandoned them when things got too serious. He could not accept any responsibility and looked for the easy way to live life. That is why it was a youth movie. It had this adolescent view of life. His family was portrayed as pompous creatures and his contempt for Rayette was obvious. Rayette, wonderfully played by Karen Black, was the most honest person in the movie but she was an object of derision because she was uneducated. Robert's treatment of her was contemptible. Robert cared for no one but Robert. Did he leave home to find himself? The self he found was crude and self-centered and was probably the cause of his disillusionment. His meaningful mirror gazing was more self-loathing than anything. He really needed to grow up

Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) abandoned his concert pianist career. He is working in a California oil field having fun with his emotional waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black). He also likes to party with his low class best friend Elton (Billy Green Bush). Elton is arrested for a gas station robbery a year earlier. Bobby goes to LA to see his sister Partita (Lois Smith). She tells him that their father is ill. Bobby goes to see his father in Washington State and reluctantly takes Rayette along. They pick up a couple hitchhikers.

There is a real rambling quality to this which is fitting for the aimless Bobby Dupea. This is simply a great showcase of Jack Nicholson's power of personality. He just takes over every scene. He is truly a movie star. The movie isn't much more than that but that's plenty enough. The diner scene is one of the most iconic scenes of the era and Nicholson makes it by the simple power of his voice.