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Reviewed by Colin Jacobson
Columbia-TriStar, widescreen 1.85:1/16x9, fullscreen, languages: English Digital Mono [CC], subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, double side-single layer, 28 chapters, theatrical trailer, talent files, production notes, rated R, 96 min., $24.95, street date 12/14/99.
Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor-Jack Nicholson, Best Supporting Actress-Karen Black, Best Screenplay, 1971. Directed by Bob Rafelson. Starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Susan Anspach, Sally Struthers. In an Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actor, Jack Nicholson is outstanding in Five Easy Pieces, the acclaimed drama from director Bob Rafelson. Although a brilliant, classical pianist from an intellectual, well-to-do family - Robert Dupea has made a career out of running from job to job and woman to woman. Presently working in an oil field, Dupea spends most of his free time downing beers, playing poker and being noncommittal with his sexy but witless girlfriend Rayette. But when he is summoned to his father's deathbed, Dupea returns home with Raette, where he meets and falls for a sophisticated woman. Now caught between his conflicting lifestyles, the gifted but troubled Dupea must face issues that will change his life forever. Deceptively simple, but one of the most complex and interesting films of its time - Five Easy Pieces garnered a 1970 Academy Award nomination for Best Picture - with Black receiving the 1970 New York Film Critics award for her excellent performance.
Thanks to Columbia TriStar (CTS) Home Video, I'm getting me a crash course in Jack Nicholson history! They sent me copies of both The Last Detail and Five Easy Pieces, neither of which I had ever seen. Time to catch up with Jack's past! The Last Detail is uh... detailed elsewhere, so I'll stick to Five Easy Pieces here. It seems to be the better-known of the two films, and that's for a good reason: it's definitely the better of the two films. Don't get me wrong: I really liked The Last Detail. But FEP appears to be a much more substantial and provocative piece of work. Interestingly, both films lack much of a plot. FEP especially stands as a character piece, and it's a good one. Nicholson plays Robert Dupea, a man from a privileged background who seems desperate to avoid it. Or maybe not. His progress and his interactions with others provide various insights into his personality, but he remains difficult to classify. A lot of that stems from Nicholson's excellent performance. He brings a wide variety of emotions and attitudes to the character, an especially commendable achievement since the role easily could have been of a one-note variety. I get the feeling FEP is a film that probably offers similar depth. Since I've only seen it once, I don't have a form grasp on a lot of issues, but I think I might develop greater insight upon repeated viewings. The movie evolves at a slow but compelling pace and takes its time revealing where it's going. When one knows the path in advance, one can then observe details that were missed the first time. I look forward to watching FEP again to gather additional information and observe details. In addition to Nicholson, some other performances stand out. I never much liked Karen Black, and I can't say I actually like her here, but her work is very strong. She plays Rayette, a sappy dimbulb of a waitress who's nuts about Bobby. (Tellingly, she states that she loves him quite a lot and asks him to reciprocate, but he never actually says the words.) While there doesn't seem to be much depth to the role, Black makes her seem real and is effective in the part. I mean, Rayette annoyed me, but since she was supposed to annoy me, that's probably a good thing. Speaking of Black, it's interesting to note that she, Nicholson and Toni "Mickey" Basil appeared in Easy Rider one year prior to FEP. However, this doesn't mark a reunion for the actors; while Basil and Black worked together in that earlier film, Nicholson never interacted with their characters. Still, it makes for a neat little footnote. Basil plays a very minor character in FEP as a sidekick to a rather abrasive apparent lesbian, both of whom are picked up by Bobby and Rayette as they hitchhike to Alaska. Helena Kallianiotes plays Palm Apodaca, the nasty one, and is an absolute hoot in the role. She goes on and on about filth and dirt and bemoans the state of humanity. No, it doesn't sound like much, but Kallianiotes provides the role with such bitter and harsh vigor that she's a constant delight to watch. Although she was just a curious footnote to the drama of the film, her part was the most entertaining aspect of the movie. Today's "nude scene by an actress who would later gain prominence" offers Sally Struthers as a trailer trash slut who gets it on with Bobby. We don't get a great look at Struthers' ample charms, but they do flop and bounce around quite a bit. Five Easy Pieces stands as a strong film from relatively early in Nicholson's career. His roles have varied so much that it's hard to compare present to past - it's one of those apples and oranges deals - but FEP certainly deserves to stand as one of the best films he's made. Despite its slow pace, the movie offers a very compelling look at some interesting characters and works quite well. Five Easy Pieces appears in both its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and also in a fullscreen version on this double-sided DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Only the letterboxed version was evaluated for this review. FEP offers a generally good but very inconsistent picture. Sharpness usually seems fine, but the picture occasionally looks fuzzy or hazy; this happens most frequently with interior shots, though that's not a hard and fast rule. Moiré effects and jagged edges pop up at times but not frequently. The print used for the transfer appeared very good considering its age; speckles and grain interfere with the image on some occasions, but the quality usually is very clean. I did not notice any instances of digital artifacts. Colors generally appear very solid and accurate. It's not a terribly bright movie, but the hues offered seem warm and natural for the most part; at times, however, they come across as thick and oversaturated. Black levels seem too strong, and shadow detail appears weak; the image often looks overly opaque and I had difficulty seeing the darker portions of the picture. Nonetheless, "Five Easy Pieces" provides a fairly satisfactory viewing experience, though I wish it would have been more consistent. Five Easy Pieces comes with its original monaural soundtrack. When rating mono audio, I don't ask for much; all I really care about is that the quality is decent and the dialogue intelligible. Unfortunately, those simple requirements are not met here. Learn from my experience: do not attempt to eat popcorn while you watch this film! I started the picture with my little snack and I could not understand a single word anyone said while I ate; I had to turn on the subtitles until I finished. Once that interference disappeared, I found the speech to generally be comprehendible, but even then I had trouble on too many occasions. Dialogue consistently appeared flat and muddy; it often sounded like it was recorded in a different room. The overall quality of the audio was relatively poor but not terrible. Effects and music seemed dull and lifeless, but at least they lacked distortion, as did the dialogue. But while I can forgive a lot of audio faults for an old movie like this, I can't excuse such basic problems as muddy, vague dialogue. Keep that remote handy while you watch this movie - you may need to activate the subtitles. Five Easy Pieces includes only the bare minimum of supplements. We get a "bonus trailer" for Nicholson's As Good As It Gets. I must admit that the phrase "bonus trailer" seems misleading, since I think it implies that we also get the promo for FEP itself. That isn't the case, though; AGAIG is the only ad featured on this DVD. The disc also presents talent files for Nicholson, Black, and director Bob Rafaelson. As is standard practice for Columbia Tristar DVDs, these are very basic and lack much information. Inside the package's booklet are some brief but solid production notes; they don't tell you much about the making of the film, but they add some useful details. Despite the weak quality of the picture, sound and supplements, I ultimately will give Five Easy Pieces a guarded recommendation just because it's a very good film. I wish the various qualitative ratings were higher so I could endorse it more readily, but unfortunately, it's not an especially strong DVD. Nonetheless, it's a very good film. You should definitely at least try it as a rental, but you won't go wrong if you buy a copy. While the quality of the DVD seems relatively poor, the quality of the film appears high enough to pretty much overcome those handicaps.
Current as of 12/29/99 Mr. Showbiz Celebrities: Jack Nicholson--An excellent source for profile and credits.
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