--- title: "Five Easy Pieces" year: 1970 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces" fi1m_score: 88 critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 14 published: "2026-09-16T10:17:41.516775+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T10:17:42.041383+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Five Easy Pieces (1970) Directed by Bob Rafelson · 1h 38m · MPA R · Drama **Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 79 from 14 reviews *In a sentence:* A fine evening with a man we would not invite round > Bob Rafelson’s drama gives Jack Nicholson a difficult man worth spending time with. The film occasionally indulges his behaviour, but its humour, discomfort and performances give us plenty of reason to stay. ## Synopsis Robert Eroica Dupea (Jack Nicholson) keeps moving through roadside America. He comes from a cultivated background, yet finds little comfort in the expectations attached to it. Rayette Dipesto (Karen Black) and Elton (Billy Green Bush) are part of his daily life, while family and class complicate his efforts to live on his own terms. He wants distance from the person he is expected to be, without knowing what would satisfy him instead. His anger and his difficulty getting close to other people follow him, making a change of surroundings an uncertain answer to his discontent. ## Review *Five Easy Pieces* is funny, uncomfortable and worth the trouble, though its attention to a difficult man occasionally becomes indulgence. Bob Rafelson directs Jack Nicholson as Robert Eroica Dupea, whose cultivation has done little to make him good company. The film takes his dissatisfaction seriously without giving us much reason to believe that everyone else has failed him. That matters in a drama about a restless, privileged man, and for most of its 98 minutes the film keeps us alert to his faults. Jack Nicholson makes anger quick, funny and disconcertingly attractive, then allows us to notice the effort behind it. We laughed at the diner scene, then felt uneasy about how readily we had taken his side. The performance encourages that response: the physical energy can win us over before we have considered the behaviour, while the quieter stretches suggest someone who struggles to explain himself. He does not need to announce his unhappiness for it to become tiring to be around. Carole Eastman’s screenplay is less convincing when the supporting characters seem present chiefly to receive another helping of his dissatisfaction. The women are particularly vulnerable to this, and the film does not always seem as curious about their frustrations as it is about his. Karen Black, as Rayette Dipesto, gives us a reason to resist that emphasis. Her performance made us want the film to spend longer considering what this company costs her, without immediately returning its attention to him. László Kovács’s cinematography makes the roadside surroundings feel inhabited rather than collected for atmosphere. We get a sense of daily life continuing beyond the central character’s bad mood, and that helps keep his troubles in proportion. Toby Carr Rafelson’s production design gives the differences in class a similar everyday weight, without making every setting demand an explanation. These are persuasive surroundings for someone who keeps finding reasons not to feel at home. Editors Christopher Holmes and Gerald Shepard give the film a loose rhythm that usually suits its restless lead. Encounters have room to become awkward, and the humour does not feel tidied into a separate business from the unhappiness. The drawback is that individual passages can seem more complete than the story connecting them; occasionally we feel we are being shown another example of something already established. At those points, another forceful performance cannot quite disguise the repetition, though the film rarely loses our interest for long. Films about men who cannot settle down can spend a long time congratulating them for it. Bob Rafelson is usually too interested in the unpleasantness of this particular man to offer that easy approval. His humour helps: irritation can be ridiculous even when the person feeling it has a point. The lapses come when the film appears to assume that being difficult is sufficiently interesting in itself, an assumption its stronger passages have taught us to question. We would not suggest this as a restful evening’s viewing, despite the short running time. There is considerable pleasure in the acting, but little reassurance that unhappiness makes anyone more perceptive or more deserving of patience. See it when there is time afterwards to disagree about how much patience this man deserves. *Fi1m score 88, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to Five Easy Pieces, with praise centred on Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a restless, emotionally guarded man. The reviews repeatedly find both anger and vulnerability in his performance, while crediting Rafelson’s direction with allowing comedy and sadness to coexist without sentimentality. Its observations of class, family and roadside America also draw praise, giving the central character’s discontent a setting that feels particular and lived in. The disagreement concerns how much that discontent reveals, and how well the character’s behaviour withstands scrutiny. The Times finds the film compelling but regards some elements as infantile or borderline abusive. The New York Times supplies the sole negative assessment, admiring the photography and individual acting moments but finding insufficient sustained characterisation. The spread is therefore wide, though heavily weighted towards approval: most critics see emotional complexity where the principal dissenter sees a collection of accomplished fragments. ### Reviews we read (14) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (5/5): Huddleston calls it one of the era's standout masterpieces, praising its sustained contrasts and Nicholson's restrained central performance as a man hiding emotional emptiness. He notes the film's insightful handling of class, family and masculinity without sentimentality. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/five-easy-pieces-1) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Ebert calls the film one of the best American films and a masterpiece of heartbreaking intensity. He praises its vivid portrayal of the central character's road life, textures of middle-American existence, and the unforgettable lead performance by Jack Nicholson. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/five-easy-pieces-1970) - **Sight and Sound**, David Thomson (90/100, inferred): Thomson celebrates the film as a masterpiece of New Hollywood that captured the era's vitality through BBS Productions. He singles out Nicholson's magnetic, self-destructive performance and the iconic diner scene as embodying the film's libertarian spirit and road-myth themes. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49654) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Jack Nicholson is at his peak in this freewheeling revived 1970s gem. The film is a superbly composed tragicomedy that comes as close to perfection as it gets, with gem-like scenes and a moving glimpse of Nicholson's vulnerability. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/12/five-easy-pieces-review) - **The New Yorker**, Penelope Gilliatt (90/100, inferred): Gilliatt describes it as a striking, eloquent, and important movie that vividly captures a particular cultivated American man who keeps running. She singles out the blithe nihilism, witty self-scrutiny, and rich periphery of characters as strengths. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/09/19/the-current-cinema-18) - **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (85/100, inferred): The critic lauds Jack Nicholson’s performance as a marvel of physical energy and emotional nuance that captures the rage and sadness of a privileged drifter. Rafelson’s exploratory direction and tonal shifts between comedy and tragedy are singled out as helping the film express 1970s ennui in a way that still resonates. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/five-easy-pieces-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-bob-rafelson/) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a 1970s classic and a key turn-of-the-decade film. Nicholson’s anarchic performance as the disaffected protagonist is singled out for praise amid observations of roadside America. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/five-easy-pieces-review/) - **Evening Standard** (75/100, inferred): It is presented as the film that made Jack Nicholson a star and one of the key American films of its era. Tremendous performances and Rafelson’s atmospheric direction are highlighted for illuminating class divisions. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/five-easy-pieces-is-the-film-that-made-jack-nicholson-a-star-7421190.html) - **Radio Times**, Adrian Turner (7.3/10): Turner highlights why the film made Nicholson a star, praising his magnetic portrayal of an emotionally repressed man torn between worlds and Rafelson's superb direction that elevates the material to Bergman-like levels of wit and insight. He notes the memorable diner scene. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-diqbwa/five-easy-pieces/) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (70/100, inferred): The re-released Seventies classic in which Jack Nicholson came of age as an actor remains utterly compelling today, though some elements now look infantile or borderline abusive. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/five-easy-pieces-t75tzvwns5l) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): The review calls it an absorbing, if nerve-wracking, film with solid American roots reminiscent of French films of the 1940s and 1950s. It praises Nicholson's remarkably varied and daring exploration of a complex character. [Read](https://variety.com/1969/film/reviews/five-easy-pieces-2-1200422228/) - **The New York Times**, Vincent Canby (30/100, inferred): Canby finds the film an open-ended story that is satiric and elegiac, with high-order movie-making in non-essentials like photography and acting bits. He notes it takes small risks and provides small rewards, living in bits and pieces rather than sustained characterization. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/12/archives/rafelsons-five-easy-pieces-bows.html) - **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Five Easy Pieces one of the greatest American films of the 1970s or all cinema and a timeless character study. They single out Jack Nicholson's career-best performance as the alienated Bobby Dupea and the film's authentic portrayal of his inner turmoil and relationships. [Read](https://collider.com/america-lost-and-found-the-bbs-story-criterion-collection-blu-ray-review/) - **The Ringer**, Noah Gittell (80/100, inferred): The piece marks the film's 50th anniversary as the moment Jack Nicholson became a star and a defining New Hollywood anti-hero. It highlights the iconic diner scene and the bleak portrait of a generation's disillusionment as key elements. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2020/09/11/movies/jack-nicholson-five-easy-pieces-diner-scene-anniversary) ## Details - **Director:** Bob Rafelson - **Director:** Bob Rafelson - **Screenplay:** Carole Eastman - **Story:** Carole Eastman, Bob Rafelson - **Cinematography:** László Kovács - **Editor:** Gerald Shepard, Christopher Holmes - **Production design:** Toby Carr Rafelson - **Producer:** Richard Wechsler, Bob Rafelson - **Cast:** Jack Nicholson as Robert Eroica Dupea; Karen Black as Rayette Dipesto; Susan Anspach as Catherine Van Oost; Lois Smith as Partita Dupea; Ralph Waite as Carl Fidelio Dupea; Billy Green Bush as Elton; Irene Dailey as Samia Glavia; Toni Basil as Terry Grouse - **Runtime:** 1h 38m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 12 September 1970 - **Genres:** Drama - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $18 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkcXtLz-BaM ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Tubi: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AT, BG, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, LT, NL, RS, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1971: Best Actor (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated) - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film 1970: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (nominated) - Golden Globes 1970: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Motion Picture – Drama (nominated); Best Screenplay (nominated); Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (won) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor (nominated) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (nominated) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film (nominated) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay (nominated) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (won) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director 1970: New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director (won) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film 1970: New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film (won) ## If you liked this - *The Last Detail* (1973): Jack Nicholson’s abrasive humour makes kindness difficult to separate from aggression. - *Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore* (1974): A woman’s frustrations receive the attention this film sometimes denies them. - *The Green Ray* (1986): Restlessness and loneliness observed without requiring their sufferer to become easy company. - *Naked* (1993), Fi1m 84: Another difficult man tests how much sympathy a forceful performance can earn. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/naked.md) - *Drive My Car* (2021): Patient performances reward close attention to what unhappy people struggle to say. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces