Five Easy Pieces

In Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson is the drifting scion of a cultured West Coast family who has traded his musical gift (the title refers to piano exercises) for sleeping around, heavy drinking, and blue-collar bravado. In Bob Rafelson's polished and observant (but rather cold) film, the character's aimlessness and rebellion reflected America's mood at the time. Karen Black is memorable as Nicholson's waitress-girlfriend, Rayette, and so is Helena Kallionotes as a lesbian hitchhiker who delievers a scathing tirade on the filth of urban living. B