Review of Easy Rider (1969) by Allen B — 20 Mar 2011

Weirdly beautiful film with not much of a plot and some really bizarre editing choices that sometimes work and sometimes don't. And a brilliant freaking performance by Jack Nicholson as a quirky lawyer type. But it's not as good as I was expecting, namely because of the lack of concrete plot and the relatively shallow main characters. Still, it's not terrible, and it's certainly unlike anything you're bound to see today.

This film is clearly about the 60s and everything the hippie culture tried to represent, what with their long hair and free-love and sticking it to the man and all that. I'm not entirely sure what the message was when all was said and done, though; something about drugs and freedom and not selling out? I don't know. I certainly wasn't expecting it to end the way it does, that's for sure.

**MINOR SPOILERS**.

Nor was I expecting the somewhat disturbing scene of violence that takes place about 2/3rds in resulting in the death of a major character. I watched it a few times over and still couldn't figure out if it was a stroke of genius or just plain terrible editing. And, again, Nicholson is just brilliant.

**END SPOILERS**.

Good film, but not a classic. Maybe it was for its time, but now, not so much.