LANGE: (As Cora Papadakis) I'm getting tired of what's right and wrong. NICHOLSON: (As Frank Chambers) What are you talking about? JESSICA LANGE: (As Cora Papadakis) It's just you and me. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE") And it served as a model for the sort of independent, introspective films these two men would specialize in, six in all, including a remake of "The Postman Always Rings Twice," in which Rafelson teamed his leading man with Jessica Lange. It was nominated for four Oscars, including best actor for Nicholson and best picture and screenplay for Rafelson. "Five Easy Pieces" was actually a tragic comedy, subtle and thoughtful, with something of Chekhov to it. MONDELLO: The scene lasts longer than I can play here but is worth seeking out online. NICHOLSON: (As Robert Eroica Dupea) What do you mean you don't make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don't you? JACK NICHOLSON: (As Robert Eroica Dupea) I'd like a plain omelet, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee and a side order of wheat toast. In just a few years, Rafelson's company produced Dennis Hopper's groundbreaking "Easy Rider," Peter Bogdanovich's black-and-white masterwork, "The Last Picture Show," the Oscar-winning Vietnam documentary "Hearts And Minds" and Rafelson's own road trip film, "Five Easy Pieces," probably best known for a scene in which Jack Nicholson encounters a roadside diner's no substitutions policy. But his success with "The Monkees" is what helped bankroll the production company that made him a central figure of what was known as the American new wave. Nobody expects you to write a counterculture groundswell as deftly as Bob Rafelson did. Critic Bob Mondello offers this remembrance.īOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: When your showbiz calling card is that you helped invent a TV boy band to spoof The Beatles. This reunion, which includes his violinist brother Carl's mentoring of young beautiful pianist named Catherine Van Oost, makes Bobby contemplate running toward instead of running away from something for the first time in a long time.Filmmaker Bob Rafelson, who directed "Five Easy Pieces" and who wrote or produced some of the most influential films of the 1970s, has died. This reunion, which includes seeing his siblings' current lives, provides the stepping stone for what Bobby decides to do in the next immediate phase of his life. As such, Bobby, with Rayette tagging along much to his chagrin, decides to return to the home he grew up in - a musical compound where his father and two siblings still live - to visit with his father. He hears from his classical pianist sister, Partita, that their father has suffered a couple of strokes which has rendered him semi-comatose. While his siblings followed that path, Robert rebelled against it, he who has not seen his father in three years. Their parents even gave each of the three some classical musical reference as part of their given names. This life belies the fact that Bobby grew up in a privileged life as "Robert", who, along with his two siblings, were destined for musical greatness, Robert as a classical pianist. Not the brightest light in the world, Rayette, who lives by the code of Tammy Wynette songs, continually complains to Bobby about his treatment of her, but still clings to him for dear life. When he isn't cheating on her, he treats his waitress girlfriend, Rayette Dipesto, poorly. He currently works on an oil rig in southern California, and partakes in stereotypical working class activities during his free time. Bobby Dupea has been drifting in his life over the last several years.
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