Five Easy Pieces – 1970
He Rode The Fast Lane On The Road To Nowhere.

Director
Bob Rafelson

Writers
Carole Eastman also story (as Adrien Joyce)
Bob Rafelson story

Producers
Bob Rafelson producer
Bert Schneider executive producer
Harold Schneider associate producer
Richard Wechsler producer

Cast
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
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)
Irene Dailey – Samia Glavia
Clay Greenbush – Baby (uncredited)

Review by Jack Gatanella

Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Easy in Bold letters,

Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces is as decent and interesting as movies get, with great characterizations (Nicholson is excellent as always, but the supporting performances from Black and others contribute also to the feel) and some music that borderlines from fine to overdone. Many memorable scenes included, one of them Nicholson’s famous chicken-salad speech, plus a challenging ending. A

Review by Zetes

Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Definitely one of the great American films,

This movie is most famous for a scene in which Jack Nicholson tells a waitress to hold the chicken salad between her knees so he can get some plain wheat toast, but, in a movie as good as this, that very famous scene may be its least memorable one. After that scene, I hadn’t heard anything about what this film was really about, and its depth and power took me completely by surprise.

It’s a story of a man trapped in his own life, unable to find a place to settle. All the locations at which he has arrived have lead to nothing but disappointment and the realization that there just might not be a life for him. God, how I can sympathize. Just as I was starting to question whether Nicholson was as good an actor as everybody seems to think he is, I’ve come upon his very best performance.

Karen Black plays his girlfriend, a hick who loves him to death. He’s not sure if she’s good enough for him, or vice versa. Lois Smith, Ralph Waite, and Susan Anspach give good supporting performances.

A flat-out masterpiece.