On F List of Movie Reviews
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Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
5/05, 4/09, 3/21
5/05:
Five Easy Pieces has one of the greatest scenes in movie history, and it concerns a chicken salad sandwich order which
resulted in a famous line from Jack Nicholson: "I want you to hold it between your knees."
Anyway, it's a complicated character study film. Either you get it or you don't. It's Easy Rider all over again. Jack
Nicholson is great. He's one of the finest actors of his generation, having done some of the most important films during the
70's. Five Easy Pieces is arguably one of them.
The following quote sums Jack's character the best: "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?"
All in all, the two reasons to see Five Easy Pieces are Jack Nicholson's performance and the chicken salad scene.
4/09:
My opinion of Five Easy Pieces has been going up steadily.
If you want to be absolutely certain of Jack Nicholson's place among the pantheon of great actors, look no further than
Five Easy Pieces. What a tough role for him because he was given so little to make his character
work. It speaks volumes of his extraordinary ability to grasp the complexities of what the film was asking for.
I also like Karen Black's performance, and I understand her character better this time around. It's easy to fault Dupea for
not dumping Rayette sooner, but the lack of initiative is actually common when it comes to doomed relationships.
I can't rate Five Easy Pieces higher than '8' because of the paucity in character details. When the movie ended, I
was left with an irritating feeling that I didn't know enough when it came to the history of the family or didn't
understand why Bobby Dupea had become who he was. Regardless, the chicken salad scene is an all-time great and will always
be the centerpiece.
All in all, Five Easy Pieces works because of Jack Nicholson.
3/21:
Jack Nicholson has given many great performances for decades, but one of them that absolutely ranks in the top three is
Five Easy Pieces.
One of the most complicated character study pictures, it has brilliant performances, writing, and direction. It's impossible to
think of Five Easy Pieces without thinking of the chicken salad scene. At the end, what Bobby Dupea was trying to say
is he hates himself and uses people for selfish reasons.
Both Jack Nicholson and Karen Black earned Oscar nominations. The Academy sure missed out on Helena Kallianiotes for giving a
five-minute soliloquy about garbage and filth during the car ride just to spruce up things. As for Karen Black, I feel bad how
her character was being treated; she didn't deserve it from Bobby and could do better than him.
All in all, when people talk about great actors, Jack Nicholson must be included because of films like Five Easy Pieces
and Chinatown.