Five Easy Pieces (1970)

A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

Carole Eastman (screenplay) (as Adrien Joyce), Bob Rafelson (story)

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	Robert Eroica Dupea
Karen Black	...	Rayette Dipesto
Billy Green Bush	...	Elton (as Billy 'Green' Bush)
Fannie Flagg	...	Stoney
Sally Struthers	...	Betty (as Sally Ann Struthers)
Marlena MacGuire	...	Twinky (as Marlena Macguire)
Richard Stahl	...	Recording Engineer
Lois Smith	...	Partita Dupea
Helena Kallianiotes	...	Palm Apodaca
Toni Basil	...	Terry Grouse
Lorna Thayer	...	Waitress
Susan Anspach	...	Catherine Van Oost
Ralph Waite	...	Carl Fidelio Dupea
William Challee	...	Nicholas Dupea
John P. Ryan	...	Spicer (as John Ryan)

Storyline

Robert Dupea has given up his promising career as a concert pianist and is now working in oil fields. He lives together with Rayette, who's a waitress in a diner. When Robert hears from his sister that his father isn't well, he drives up to Washington to see him, taking Rayette with him. There he gets confronted with his rich, cultured family that he had left behind.

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Plot Keywords:

road movie | pianist | alienation | on the road | drifter | 

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Taglines:

He Rode The Fast Lane On The Road To Nowhere.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rajut kuviot

Filming Locations:

Chemainus, North Cowichan, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$1,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBS Productions, Columbia Pictures, Five Easy Pieces Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jack Nicholson wanted Janis Joplin to have the part of Palm Apodaca, but it was never offered to her.

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Goofs

At the bowling alley, a stain or wet spot is visible on the seat of Bobby's jeans, but is gone in the next shot.

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Quotes

Elton: [singing] Do you wanna buy a ticket to the raffle of a dog/ That comes a-runnin', lickin', when you whistle, holler "Claude"?/ A big brown dog, just as sound as a ring/ He'll be eight years old if he lives 'til the spring./ Tickets, tickets, two for a quarter!/ If you haven't got your ticket yet, well, you'd better order!/ He'll wet your carpet and he'll fertilize your grass/ He's got three white feet and a hole in his ass!

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Connections

Referenced in Postcards from the Edge (1990)

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Soundtracks

Prelude in E Minor, Op 28, No. 4
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Pearl Kaufman

User Reviews

"stick it between your knees"

In 1969, Jack Nicholson made his big break in "Easy Rider", and the very next year, he got his first lead role in another "easy": "Five Easy Pieces". He plays Robert Eroica "Bobby" Dupea, a man from a well-off musical family. Bobby has given up his potential, choosing instead to work in the oil fields. Angry and with no goal in life, he spends most of his time drinking, partying, and ignoring his girlfriend Rayette Dipesto (Karen Black). Then, his father has a stroke, forcing Bobby to visit his family. Staying with his family prompts him to not only reconsider the path that he has chosen in life, but to reevaluate his whole existence, and how he abandoned his talent.

"Five Easy Pieces" was one of the movies that affirmed the new direction that the movie industry was taking in the late '60s and early '70s. Ten years earlier, they might have given the movie an idiotically sugary ending, but the movie does not have such an ending. The ending not only shows how unhappy Bobby is, but also the sense of cynicism that had come to pervade the country. A 10/10.

Of course, the really famous scene happens in the restaurant. Although that was probably just thrown in for comic relief, it truly is a classic.