Carnal Knowledge

For the first half hour the characters are so disgusting and terrible, the feeling of bile rising in my throat doesn't subside. These are the people who I have known. And while I cannot bring myself to turn it off, I also can't help but fondly remember watching all of his movies that he made before this one, the spark that say The Graduate or Catch-22 had, and this just feels a little flat. But at the same time, it seems to completely succeed in doing what it sets out to do, creating something suffocatingly real, like watching the most depressing moments in my life played back for me with dim lighting and blonder actresses. The fact that Candice Bergen goes away after that also helps. Upper middle class ennui is something that's almost always tedious to watch, but this is actually affecting. Nonetheless, this feels like the beginning of the end for Mike Nichols. He would never again make anything on a level with Catch-22, and he followed this one up with Day of the Dolphins. Seriously. wtf. Also for the curious, pop star Arthur Garfunkle (as the back of the DVD box puts it) gives a surprisingly strong performance in this.

The sexual adventures of Jonathan and Sandy. From college to mid-life crises, we see their attitude to the opposite sex and how their male organ leads them to lower depths. A fascinating script from Jules who isn't afraid to show how some men really are. Nichols' direction has the European flavor, allowing the stunning performances to take over with the help of Giuseppe Rotunno's unobtrusive photography. The amazing thing is that this film is still relevant to some of today's modern male species. The writer and director teamed up recently and made CLOSER, for today's generation. Watch the two movies back to back and you'd see the similarities in style and substance after thirty years.

Telling the sordid, often depressing story of two men and their sexual hangups over several decades, director Mike Nichols and writer Jules Fieffer concoct a thinking man's dirty movie. At times it's not easy to watch, but it's mostly entertaining and beautifully made. Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel are the men ---Nicholson is the callous, emotionally detached one, Garfunkel is the romantic. He marries college sweetheart Candice Bergen, while Nicholson shacks up with sexy Ann-Margret. The scenes with Nicholson and Ann-Margret are cringe-inducing. Nicholson, Garfunkel and Bergen are terrific and Nichol's clever casting of Ann-Margret, putting her sex kitten image through the blender, pays off in spades...she's the best thing in the movie. The supporting cast includes Carol Kane and Rita Moreno.

It's depressing to see what a low rating Carnal Knowledge gets. Jules Feiffer, the brilliant cartoonist, wrote an extraordinary script for this film. I loved the dialog so much I found the script on Alibris and read it immediately.

This is a dark movie. Not that it's violent or bloody, but its take on men vs. women relationships is bleak, blunt, and accurate. Jack Nicholson is charismatic and smart in his role, showing the misery at the heart of a cynic.

As others have written, it's not a kids' movie. It's not even a young adults' movie-- I was bored when I first saw it, at 21. It's an "adult movie" in the non-euphemistic sense of that phrase, an adult movie about the mortality of romance

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

**** (out of 4)

Excellent drama from Mike Nichols takes a look at the three decade friendship between two men (Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkle) and their sex lives. The 1970s brought sex, language and nudity to the big screen and this here was one of the most controversial films of its time but it's also one of the greatest films that has ever dealt with sex and relationships. The movie is brutally raw in its anger, passion and conversations but this is what really makes it stand apart. The dialogue is perfect, the story structure is flawless and we're given some of the best performances that you're ever going to see. I really love the way Nichols structured the picture and especially in the beginning as we see the Garfunkle character fall for a girl (Candice Bergen) but never realizing that Nicholson has gone behind his back and started a relationship with her. The way this love triangle is shown is just flawless in its execution. The middle portion of the film deals with Nicholson's relationship with Bobbie (Ann-Margret) and this too is flawless but incredibly depressing. There's a masterful sequence with the two of them crying and fighting, which is as powerful as anything you're going to see from this era. The entire cast does a fabulous job fitting into their roles. There's no question about Nicholson's brilliance during this era and that includes this film where he plays such a jerk that you can't stand him. The real surprise here is Garfunkel and Ann-Margret, both of them giving the performances of their careers. Nichols' direction is among the best of his career and especially the way he milks the story so well to get every sort of emotion out of it. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE isn't a pretty film to watch due to how ugly the Nicholson character is but it's still one of the best acted films out there and the rawness is something missing from most movies today.