Five Easy Pieces (1970)
84%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 4 Oscars
10 wins & 21 nominations total
An important touchstone of the New Hollywood era, Five Easy Pieces is a haunting portrait of alienation that features one of Jack Nicholson’s greatest performances
Five Easy Pieces is a movie that’s so good, it makes me want to throw my own life away and become a drifter. Jack Nicholson is at his best, playing a character who’s equal parts charming and frustrating. The film is a moody, counterculture masterpiece that’s both subtle and passionate. It’s a character study that’s both courageous and eloquent. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you feel less alone, this is the one. Just don’t blame me if you end up quitting your job and hitting the road.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Georgetown Productions Inc., Sean S. Cunningham Films,
Distributor
Criterion Collection, Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Denny’s Restaurant – 3652 Glenwood Drive, Eugene, Oregon, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1970
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 36m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 12, 1970 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 28, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Marlena MacGuire, Helena Kallianiotes, Toni Basil, Ralph Waite, William Challee, John P Ryan, Irene Dailey, Lorna Thayer, Charles LaVine, John Garfield Jr., Bob Rafelson, Richard Wechsler, Carole Eastman, drama, box office, budget, reviewed by Edward Guthmann, Andrew Sarris, Noel Murray, Michael Sragow, David Denby, Peter Bradshaw, R rating, directed by Bob Rafelson, written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, New Hollywood, alienation, classical pianist, blue-collar, California oil field, estranged family, road trip, intersection, Criterion Collection, Columbia Pictures
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Karen Black – Rayette Dipesto
Susan Anspach – Catherine Van Oost
Billy Green Bush – Elton
Fannie Flagg – Stoney
Sally Struthers – Betty
Director – Bob Rafelson
Producers – Richard Wechsler, Bob Rafelson
Writers – Carole Eastman, Bob Rafelson
Director(s)
Bob Rafelson
Writer(s)
Carole Eastman, Bob Rafelson
Producer(s)
Richard Wechsler, Bob Rafelson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 4 Oscars
10 wins & 21 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (6)
If the function of art is to help an audience feel less alone, then Five Easy Pieces succeeds beautifully.
March 4, 2019 | Rating: 4/4
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
A very modern film. Elliptical, absurdist, harshly humorous, convulsively lyrical.
November 18, 2017
Andrew Sarris
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
Director Bob Rafelson attempts something unusual here, making a film that’s subtle about its meaning without ever ranging into the pretentiously oblique or merely ambiguous.
July 1, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Noel Murray
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
The flaws of this acutely self-conscious 1970 road picture grow more obvious with every passing year, but so does its passion and eloquence.
July 18, 2014
Michael Sragow
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
The movie has more anger than it knows what to do with; that’s its fascination and its weakness, too.
June 16, 2014
David Denby
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
This superbly composed film comes as close to perfection as it gets.
June 16, 2014 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
A moody study on alienation, class status and dropping-out.
June 22, 2022 | Rating: B+
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
It was Five Easy Pieces that proved (Jack Nicholson) to be a performer of considerable depth and emotion.
February 23, 2022
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
A landmark of counterculture filmmaking.
February 12, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
In Easy Rider Nicholson’s brilliant cameo was just too short. It left us whetted and fascinated like a tantalizing apertif. Now in Five Easy Pieces Nicholson is given scope.
January 7, 2021
Harvey G. Cox
Tempo (National Council of Churches)
A courageous character study and an acting masterclass.
November 13, 2020
Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
Nicholson gives a galvanizing performance as a drifter who knows no tribe of his own, an updated anti-hero seething with self-loathing and discontent.
April 19, 2019
Sean Burns
The ARTery…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Jack Nicholson gives one of his greatest performances in Five Easy Pieces.
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