Review of Five Easy Pieces (1970) by Ashley C — 11 Apr 2009

There's a fair amount of heavy-handedness in this film, from the stereotypical bumpkinishness of the working class characters to the over-the-top arrogance of the literati, right down to the symbolism of Bobby and Carl's middle names (Eroica and Fidelio, respectively).

It works, though, considering that we're seeing the film through Bobby's eyes, and as we wince, we realize that we're feeling what he feels as he rails against the mediocrity and pretension amid which he finds himself wherever he turns.

And as we watch him run from one world to the next, trying in vain to find someplace to fit (or at least outrun his mistakes), even if we condemn his bastard tendencies, we at least slowly begin to understand him and, to a degree, empathize.

In a sense, the character feels like an embittered Holden Caulfield fifteen or twenty years down the road, better versed in the ways of the world but still lacking the maturity to cope with it, only at this point in his life, slowly but surely losing the capacity to care.

"Colder than hell" indeed.