Throwback Thursday: ‘Five Easy Pieces’

With 12 nominations, Jack Nicholson has had more Academy Awards nods than any other male performer in history.  He ties for the most acting nominations period with Katherine Hepburn and only Meryl Streep has more with 14.  His nomination for his performance in Bob Rafelson’s ‘Five Easy Pieces’ wasn’t Nicholson’s first nomination, either.  That came from his supporting role in ‘Easy Rider,’ but it was his turn as Bobby Dupea, a man born with flawless musical talents but not the desire to make it his passion in life, that made the world stand up and take notice of Nicholson as a leading man.

It’s not just Nicholson’s performance that makes ‘Five Easy Pieces’ such a standout in American cinema, either.  Rafelson shoots the characters in his film with a distanced, calculated eye, forcing each character to live in the background while driving their actions to the forefront.  He depicts the dirty world of oil rig workers with as much care and depth as he does the eccentric upper class.  A scene early in the film shows Nicholson’s character standing in the middle of the orange fields of the oil rigs, and the cloud-filled sky above seems to be pressing down on him, almost as if it represents another world trying to get in.  The most classic of imagery comes in the form of Dupea sitting in the back of a moving pickup truck, playing a piano with flawless grace as the driver of the truck moves the vehicle forward, oblivious to the beauty that is coming from the instrument.

Carole Eastman’s screenplay is equally flawless.  In the early moments of the film, we are shown Bobby going about his routine life.  He drives to work with his friend, Elton, played by Billy Green Bush, who some of you might remember would go on later in life to play the father in ‘Critters.’  Bobby works at the oil rigs, drinks with his pals, makes time with his girlfriend, and only in times of great emotional stress lets anyone close to him know there is something deeper going on.  When Bobby’s world shifts a bit, not a big shift, but just enough for him to take notice, he seeks out a family member.  He goes to visit his sister, a pianist who, while gifted, could never hold a candle to Bobby.  It is from her that Bobby realizes his father has had a stroke, and may be nearing the end of his life.  With his blue-collar life beginning to shake a bit and the upper-class world of his youth crying for him to come back into it if even for just a little while, Bobby decides to visit his family.  He takes his girlfriend, Rayette, played exquisitely by Karen Black, with him even though he is embarrassed by her, and the weeks he spends with his family drive his emotions to the surface to the point where he must make a choice.

‘Five Easy Pieces’ was playing the same note ‘Good Will Hunting’ would give us nearly 30 years later.  However, unlike ‘Good Will Hunting,’ ‘Five Easy Pieces’ is perfectly capable of sustaining its minimalist plot throughout, never making overly dramatic steps towards Bobby’s revelation about his own life or forcing him to make that choice.  It feels so much more naturalistic, and, as such, it is a far truer to life depiction of what it means to be truly incredible at something but have not passion for it.  Bobby is a man who cannot love, and throughout much of the film, we feel that he has no need for love coming back to him, either.  This proves untrue, as he begins a fascination with his brother’s fiancee, played by Susan Anspach.  Still, he cannot bring himself to love anything, including her, and a scene near the end where she turns Bobby’s lack of feeling back around so that he can see it is both quiet and emotional at the same time.

Like a shark, Bobby must keep moving.  As he says “Not because I’m looking for anything really, but because I’m getting away from things that get bad if I stay.”    The final scene of the film proves that he intends to move on once more.  It is an incredibly ambiguous ending, one that Rafelson and Nicholson came up with on their own.  Eastman’s original ending was much more dramatic and much darker, yet Rafelson and Nicholson both felt that the ending they chose was more suited to the character.  It leaves a remaining piece of a puzzle that is being assembled throughout the rest of the film.  It leaves questions open that may have modern audiences squirming in their seats, yet it plays the character to a tee.  There simply is no other way for ‘Five Easy Pieces’ to end.

The most famous scene in the film comes during a stop at a diner.  Bobby and Rayette are sitting on one side of the table.  A pair of female hitchhikers, played by Helena Kallianiotes and Toni Basil, who the couple have picked up are seated on the other side.  A waitress stands over the table, telling Bobby, who has just ordered, that he cannot have a side of toast.  “No special orders,” says a sign hanging high in the restaurant.  Bobby makes attempt after attempt at getting what he wants, finally relegating to ordering a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, hold the chicken salad.  “You want me to hold the chicken?” queries the waitress.  “I want you to hold it between your knees,” retorts Bobby.  The waitress tells the four to leave the restaurant, which they do, but not before Bobby swipes the table clean of drinks and menus with one brush of his arm.  Instantly, Jack Nicholson as we know him was born.  Amazingly enough, 30 years later, Nicholson would somewhat reenact the scene in Alexander Payne’s ‘About Schmidt.’  This time around, however, Nicholson, now playing a broken, old man, would partake in acceptance rather than defiance.  This scene doesn’t appear in the final version of Payne’s film, and can be seen as a deleted scene on the DVD.

‘Five Easy Pieces’ went on to receive four Academy Award nominations for Nicholson, Black for her supporting role, Rafelson and Eastman for their screenplay, and Best Picture.  It didn’t win any of these losing out both Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor to ‘Patton’ and its star, George C. Scott.  While three of the other five Best Picture nominations that year (‘Patton,’ ‘Love Story,’ and ‘M*A*S*H*’) would go one to be considered classics, none of them resonate as much or hold as much power that still comes from Rafelson’s film.  Black lost to Helen Hayes for her supporting portrayal in ‘Airport,’ but she probably should have lost to Sally Kellerman for ‘M*A*S*H*.’

Incidentally, the five pieces as indicated by the film’s title are Fantasy in F Minor Op. 49 by Chopin, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue by Bach, E-flat Major Concerto K.271 by Mozart, Prelude Opus 28 by Chopin, and Fantasy in D Minor K.397 by Mozart.

‘Five Easy Pieces’ is a bona fide classic, a staggering depiction of self-propelled failure and the loneliness one feels when they don’t know their place in life.  Bobby Dupea is an outstandingly written, crafted, and portrayed character in American film.  His actions, though not always the best for anyone involved, are unequivocal and every one serves to define who he is.  He is truly a great character in American cinema, and, if for nothing else, he led us to one of the greatest actors, as well.