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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

During Bobby's monologue with his father at about 1:27:30 there is an onlooker in the far background in the top left corner of the frame. After 15 seconds they walk away, giving themselves away as a person rather than a tree stump.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rayette: I'm gonna play it again.
Bobby: You play that thing one more time, I'm gonna melt it down into hairspray.
Rayette: Let me play the other side then.
Bobby: No, Rayette, it's not a question of sides. It's a question of musical integrity.

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Connections

Featured in The Movies: The Seventies (2019)

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Soundtracks

Don't Touch Me
Written by Hank Cochran (as H. Cochran)
Performed by Tammy Wynette

User Reviews

A masterpiece

Previously known only for creating 'The Monkees', Bob Rafelson produced an underrated masterpiece when he made 'Five Easy Pieces', a film that deserves to be a lot better known. Jack Nicholson, typically intense but atypically understated, has possibly his finest hour as Bobby Duprea, a self-hating misogynist ill at ease with himself and the world. Many people will, when thinking of Nicholson, bring to mind his pantomime pyschopath Johnny from 'The Shining'; but Bobby, a profoundly human creation, is actually far more scary. Elsewhere the film features characteristically gorgeous cinematography from Laszlo Kovaks; a soundtrack that skilfully offsets Tammy Wynette and Chopin; excellent writing throughout and some very black humour. Like a less extreme version of Mike Leigh's 'Naked', and bristling with uncomfortable truth, 'Five Easy Pieces' is a true classic of 1970s cinema. Few films today are as good.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Five Easy Pieces

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