Five Easy Pieces (1970)
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A rootless oil worker travels to his family's estate to visit his dying father, only to find himself entangled in a web of past regrets and new attractions.
The story
Bobby Dupea is a surly oil rig worker in Kern County, California, whose blue-collar life masks a past as a piano prodigy. After learning his father is dying, Bobby decides to travel to his family's home in Washington. He reluctantly takes along his girlfriend, Rayette, a waitress with dreams of singing country music. During their journey north, they encounter two stranded women and experience various conflicts along the road. Upon arriving at the family estate in Puget Sound, Bobby must navigate the complexities of his upper-class relatives and his own unresolved identity as a former musician.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Bobby Dupea, a blue-collar oil worker in California, leaves his life behind to visit his dying father in Washington with his girlfriend, Rayette. Along the way, they pick up two women, Terry and Palm, and experience a series of roadside interactions. At the family estate in Puget Sound, Bobby meets Catherine Van Oost, a pianist engaged to his brother Carl. Despite his initial dismissal of her, Bobby and Catherine share a sexual encounter. The situation becomes tense when Rayette arrives unannounced at the estate, leading to a confrontation with a family friend. After a physical altercation with his father's nurse, Bobby attempts to persuade Catherine to leave with him, but she refuses. Following a tearful confession to his unresponsive father, Bobby leaves for California with Rayette, eventually hitching a ride on a truck while Rayette remains behind.
- First release year
- 1970
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Bob Rafelson
- Writers
- Bob Rafelson · writer; Carole Eastman · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jack Nicholson · Bobby Dupea; Karen Black · Rayette DiPesto; Susan Anspach · Partita; Lois Smith · Samia Glavia; Ralph Waite · Elton
- Genres
- road drama
- Themes
- alienation; social class; dysfunctional family; identity
- Tone and mood
- haunting; intense
- Premise and plot tags
- road movie; drama; period piece
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and is considered a touchstone of the New Hollywood era. It was praised for its intensity and Jack Nicholson's performance, though it faced some criticism for pretentiousness.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 89% · review count: 55; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 8.60/10 · scale: 10
- Production trivia
- Jack Nicholson took piano lessons from Polish concert pianist Josef Pacholczyk.; The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2000.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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