--- title: "Five Easy Pieces: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 14 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): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 14 reviews: 13 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. 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. ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 5/5. 10 August 2010. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/five-easy-pieces-1) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1970. 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 the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/five-easy-pieces-1970) ## Sight and Sound — David Thomson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 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 the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49654) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 August 2010. 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 the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/12/five-easy-pieces-review) ## The New Yorker — Penelope Gilliatt Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 1970. 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 the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/09/19/the-current-cinema-18) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 June 2026. 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 the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/five-easy-pieces-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-bob-rafelson/) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/five-easy-pieces-review/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. 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 the review](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 Rating 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 the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-diqbwa/five-easy-pieces/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 August 2010. 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 the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/five-easy-pieces-t75tzvwns5l) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1969. 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 the review](https://variety.com/1969/film/reviews/five-easy-pieces-2-1200422228/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 1970. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/12/archives/rafelsons-five-easy-pieces-bows.html) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 2010. 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 the review](https://collider.com/america-lost-and-found-the-bbs-story-criterion-collection-blu-ray-review/) ## The Ringer — Noah Gittell Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2020. 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 the review](https://www.theringer.com/2020/09/11/movies/jack-nicholson-five-easy-pieces-diner-scene-anniversary) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/five-easy-pieces.md