Five Easy Pieces |  | Director: Bob Rafelson
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Sally Struthers
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
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Rating:  80 reviews
Sales Rank: 9742
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Georgian (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: COLD09659D
ISBN: 0767828054
UPC: 043396096592
EAN: 9780767828055
ASIN: B00002VWE0
Theatrical Release Date: September 12, 1970
Release Date: December 14, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Returning home to his father's deathbed, a gifted pianist who has been living a wasted life is forced to face issues which will change his life forever.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 28-AUG-2001
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com essential video
This subtle, existential character study of an emotionally distant outcast (Nicholson) forced to confront his past failures remains an intimate cornerstone of American '70s cinema. Written and directed with remarkable restraint by Bob Rafelson, the film is the result of a short-lived partnership between the filmmaker and Nicholson--the first was the zany formalist exercise, Head, while the equally impressive King of Marvin Gardens followed Five Easy Pieces. Quiet and full of long, controlled takes, this film draws its strength from the acutely detailed, nonjudgmental observations of its complex protagonist, Robert Dupea--an extremely crass and frustrated oil worker, and failed child pianist hiding from his past in Texas. Dupea spends his life drinking beer and sleeping with (and cheating on) his annoying but adoring Tammy Wynette-wannabe girlfriend, but when he learns that his father is dying in Washington State, he leaves. After the film transforms into a spirited road movie, and arrives at the eccentric upper-class Dupea family mansion, it becomes apparent that leaving is what Dupea does best--from his problems, fears, and those who love him. Nicholson gives a difficult yet masterful performance in an unlikable role, one that's full of ambiguity and requires violent shifts in acting style. Several sequences--such as his stopping traffic to play piano, or his famous verbal duels with a cranky waitress over a chicken-salad sandwich--are Nicholson landmarks. Yet, it's the quieter moments, when Dupea tries miserably to communicate and reconcile with his dying father, where the actor shows his real talent--and by extension, shows us the wounded little boy that lurks in the shell of the man Dupea has become. --Dave McCoy
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 80
 Father Knows Best February 9, 2010
Michael Ziegler (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States)
This 1970 film is one of discovery. It concerns one personality and his view of the world. Right from the beginning you are mislead as to the true nature of the character and indeed it represents a lot of people who don't rise to meet expectations either from family or the world. Robert Dupea is intelligent, but the introduction leads us to think he is a poor oil rig wanderer, living the trailer trash lifestyle and seeking entertainment values equivilant to people who, not having much hope, live paycheck to paycheck.
Because Dupea is intelligent, frustrations mount dealing day to day with people he seems to be tolerating for unknown reasons. His girlfriend, played very well by Karen Black is extremely sexy but is an "airhead", emotionally dependent and prone to be embarassing in public situations with idiotic comments that make Dupea mad and violent.
His best friend seems to be a fellow employee, also an "Airhead" and beer buddy. The turning point is subtle. He gets into an argument with his beer buddy when he reveals that Dupea's girlfriend is pregnant. Dupea wants to dump her but his buddy insults his manhood. This is the breaking point in the film. He suddenly rises and re-asserts himself, acknowledging that he can't believe he is taking advice from "these people" telling him how to run his life and what the "good life" is about.
He quits his job and wanders after a few days to a place where his sister is recording a piano performance solo album. This is our first surprise as we know nothing about his family or his past. His appearance has changed, he is in a suit and everything from this point shows us that Robert Dupea is much more than meets the eye.
His sister reports that his father has become very ill and suggests that he visit the family estate before he passes away. Dupea has been missing almost 3 years after a falling out with his father, but we are not sure why.
He returns to his girlfriend to inform her that he is leaving but guilt over her "condition" forces him to bring her along. The film then becomes a temporary travelog with a great scene in a restaurant over a chicken salad sandwich which you will remember for the rest of your life.
Dupea leaves his girlfriend at a local hotel because he does not want his family to meet her and has little intention of staying. Upon arrival he is struck by his brother's fiancee', and quickly gets involved emotionally and physically. We then find out that our central character was a child prodigy in the field of classical music, and everyone in the family are musical performers, obviously at the hand of a dominant father who seems to have been a conductor/music director before he suffered a dehabilitating stroke. The father cannot speak and now cannot even recognize his family or where he is.
The subsequent days are filled with music, strong emotions and failed relationships. His brother, a concert violinist is a "square". His sister is obviously going to screw up by getting involved with her father's rehab therapist and Dupea himself is rattled by the presence of his brother's fiancee'. Adding to the problems, Robert's girlfriend shows up and puts him in an embarrassing position, because he never mentioned anything about her to his family and her presence interferes with his desire for his brother's fiancee'.
A climatic dinner and after dinner philosophical discussion with a houseful of guests has his girlfriend asking for ketchup (a no=no back then among the rich, who enjoyed the best of sauces, wines and cuisine) and asking if there is a TV in the house (rich people never have time for TV, back then, the richer the household the smaller the TV or none at all.) This makes Dupea reach the breaking point and he gets into a fight with everyone. He attempts a reconciliation scene with his father but it is a one sided affair.
Upon leaving, he is returning with his girlfriend but upon stopping for gas at a local station, he disappears, leaving everything behind, headed north to Canada!
 Nothing "easy" about it... February 1, 2010
David Wilkins (Minnesota)
How you feel about 'Five Easy Pieces' might depend upon why you watch movies in the first place...or at least why you watch some of the movies you watch. The reason is easily different for each genre; such is true for me. If it's important to feel better after watching a movie, or to actively like the characters involved, this selection might not be your cup of tea. It's an uneasy character study of Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson). As the story opens, he works in the oil fields of California. I couldn't help but see some vague similarities between Bobby Dupea, and the character Nicholson played in 'Easy Rider' the year before. They are both seemingly rustic, living on the fringe, in spite of higher pedigree and employment, or former employment. Both characters reject an easier, more comfortable life. They are conflicted, and searching in all the wrong places. But the story of Bobby Dupea goes much further than the thumbnail sketch of the alcoholic attorney in the gold football helmet.
Five Easy Pieces shifts gears at least twice, and the end is far from its origin. The first act reveals the oil field worker, volatile and dirty. The second act reveals transitions. Bobby visits his sister at a recording studio. She's an accomplished pianist, and offers one of many hints that Bobby's roots are very different from current appearances. The second act continues, with a road trip home after his sister tells him about their father's illness. The third act is the homecoming, and it's as awkward as any you might imagine. There doesn't seem to be a central truth about why Bobby is at war with life. Perhaps it's just Bobby. But there is a heart wrenching scene that must be witnessed, where he tries to explain his life to his father, who is too ill to respond. Five Easy Pieces is not an easy story. There are no slick resolutions. The dialogue is truthful, if harsh, and it's a tour worth taking, of life lived on a hard, tragic edge.
 A pessimist dream... January 3, 2010
Ray Wright (Virginia, USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A pessimist dream of a movie. Maybe back in the seventies it was something to behold (I was in my thirties in the seventies so I don't remember it as so) but it certainly wasn't then and is not now, entertainment. The script is something the critics should have torn up and thrown in the proverbial fire pit. However, critics being what they usually are, negative on all sides, this was a dream movie for them. Suffice to say, you're on your own if you watch this film.
five easy pieces November 24, 2009
Linda A. Bratton
Birthday gift, haven't watched it yet, but remember it being a great older movie worth having for your library.
Who Cares Wins November 3, 2009
Andrew DiGelsomina (Creation Croatia)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I can see where Nicholson's character is always running, both literally and figuratively. I can see where some might interpret this movie as perhaps being "uneasily realistic", at least in parts. But overall I find myself not caring one way or another about Bobby. At first I tried to force myself to accept his faults, and to not try to dislike the movie just because I couldn't stand him as a person. But from beginning to end I just couldn't care less about Booby (a far more apt moniker for this self-hating fool). Perhaps this movie was made with the intention of having the viewer not care about Booby, or his officious family, or born-to-be-a-target-for-self-hating-boobs girlfriend. I don't know. I just know that pretty much nothing can save this movie from being a throwaway. No real drama, no characters or situations worth caring about...it's hard to even get particularly depressed, since apathy intercedes in the end. Two stars for the goofy antics of Booby's girlfriend, and the even worse nitwitticisms of the woman hitchiker. Completely boggling that this movie won so many awards. Was probably influenced by the not-quite-as-bad Midnight Cowboy from the year before. To quote a similarly bungling Anthrax track from the '80's, who cares wins. At its best, an ambitious mega-failure.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 80
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