Posted on Sunday, 4 September 2011

FIVE EASY PIECES (Rafelson, 1970) - Nicholson’s particular talent, as an actor, is probably the ability to play charismatic assholes. In this movie, his aggressive, dismissive, and an all-out shit to his girlfriend (who, admittedly, is pretty annoying, but still), but even as you frown at his dickishness, you can’t wait to see what he’ll do next, and - perhaps more importantly - to find out what made him this way. You never really get a clear answer, of course, this being a film from the 70s, where ambiguity was still seen as an asset, but that doesn’t matter much. Nicholson’s trapped between two worlds, and doesn’t really belong in either: not an explanation, perhaps, but interesting anyway. 

FIVE EASY PIECES (Rafelson, 1970) - Nicholson’s particular talent, as an actor, is probably the ability to play charismatic assholes. In this movie, his aggressive, dismissive, and an all-out shit to his girlfriend (who, admittedly, is pretty annoying, but still), but even as you frown at his dickishness, you can’t wait to see what he’ll do next, and - perhaps more importantly - to find out what made him this way. You never really get a clear answer, of course, this being a film from the 70s, where ambiguity was still seen as an asset, but that doesn’t matter much. Nicholson’s trapped between two worlds, and doesn’t really belong in either: not an explanation, perhaps, but interesting anyway. 

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