Review of Five Easy Pieces (1970) by Jason C — 13 Oct 2009

Hot on the 'wheels' of sleeper-hit 'Easy Rider,' 'Five Easy Pieces' sees director Bob Rafelson and writer Linda Eastman waking with a hippy hangover in this none too subtle swipe at sixties inspired non-conformity.

Here, talented, troubled and emotionally tormented pianist Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) goes against the grain of family tradition by opting for a simple trailer park existence with blue-collar girlfriend Rayette.

Rafelson doesn't ask us to sympathise with Dupea's attemts to balance upon the fine line dividing these polarised worlds; indeed, there is little in the way of acid inflected, loved-up hippy ideology a la 'Easy Rider' on show.

Instead, we witness the emotional perils of Dupea's peripatetic existence play out to an apt, frustrating yet ambiguously satisfying conclusion. Rafelson never made a finer film.