I'm an agnostic. Not a religious type. But I'm pretty sure this movie is a parable of some sort. The journey of a sinner being reborn. SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT FORWARDWe meet a sinner. Jack Nicholson. He has a friend who's part loon and part trouble. A bimbo girlfriend with a heart of gold. Two bimbos on the side in heat. He drinks, shows up to work drunk, mistreats strangers and friends like. No real friends, family, or direction in his life. Apart from drilling girls and drilling oil.Frustrated with his life he SUDDENLY is in Los Angeles meeting up with someone who's either his sister or Mom. I state it this way because I feel it was intentionally vague. This woman is a little looney herself but she has a big heart and can play the piano. This juxtaposition of oil rigs and perfectly tuned pianos comes absolutely out of nowhere, which means this a meandering mess of a movie, or it serves a bigger purpose and is actually perfectly crafted. I vote the latter. But stay with me.Jack is told to visit his Dad who's had a stroke. His Dad lives on an island, has a big white beard, and is basically cast to appear like Santa Claus. Or God.God living on an island is important. It puts his 'almighty' Father in a different place. Full of nature, green, and beauty. Instead of sand and oil rigs.It's a place Jack hates. A house (of God) that makes the sinner's skin crawl. One key reason is that his family and relations in the house all play music. The way their Dad did before his stroke. Music, here, is analogous to 'grace'.Jack came from this house and knows how to play the piano. But he gave it all up years ago. That is: being shown the way to make the world more pure and beautiful he chose instead to be a sinner and make it more ugly and... wait for it...... dirty. If you've seen this film you know the term 'dirty' holds a great deal of meaning. On his way to his Dad's house he picks up a stranded woman who won't shut her annoying mouth about dirt and filth. She hilariously promises not to even want to talk about such things but actually won't shut her angry mouth about it.I fell for this red herring at first. That her place in the story was comic relief. Think about the entire story again and you realize she's the 'wise man in the cave'. Speaking on behalf of the author. Hidden right in plain sight. Back in the 'house of God' Jack meets a better woman than his typical bimbo. She's all about (God's grace) 'music'. He plays her a tune, she's moved, he isn't. Because he is a dirty filthy sinner. (I'm not judging him. I'm saying the story is. Everyone in that house... as cartoonish as they appear... are not dirty or filthy. Except maybe that nurse dude.)So when the end of this story happens... and you're not on this page yet... the ending will make no sense to you. However, if you believe Jack has come to realize he is dirty and filthy and needs to be reborn to a better life ---- you get what I'm seeing in this film. And, again, I'm no religious type. But this is the only way I can coherently explain this incoherent looking piece.By the way: if you left BREAKING THE WAVES confused as hell, you missed a similar trick there. That story is NOT about a simple minded girl. It's about someone returning to Earth and would we recognize him if he was standing right in front of us as... a simple minded girl.Cheers. I hope this helped someone.

Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a worker on a Californian oil rig. He lives with his girlfriend Rayette and their relationship is starting to cool. Upon visiting his sister in Los Angeles, Bobby discovers that his father is gravely ill. He travels to Washington state to see him, but this forces many sore subjects with his family to come to the fore.Had potential but is clumsily written and the main theme is underdeveloped. The scene setting has far too many sub-plots that go nowhere and just seem like drama for the sake of drama. Even once the movie starts to find its focus - when Bobby visits his father - there are still several detours and digressions that lead nowhere and add nothing.Other than padding the movie, the other effect of these digressions is to lessen the weight and impact of the main theme - Bobby turning his back on his upbringing and father's wishes, and his reconciliation with his father. This is massively underdeveloped, and the is basically only explored in any detail in one scene. Even then this scene, which should have been the climax of the movie, is pretty short and shallow.Can't fault Jack Nicholson's performance in the lead role, a performance for which he got his second Oscar nomination (after Easy Rider, a year earlier) and first Best Actor nomination. Karen Black was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Rayette. Some of the supporting cast's performances are quite cringeworthy though, with Billy Green Bush (as Elton) overacting and Ralph White (as Carl) just plain annoying.

Full disclosure: I am a big fan of the Hollywood golden era (30s and 40s), so I did not expect to like this, but given its relatively high acclaim, I finally got around to it.Even given due excuse for being made in the 1970s, this is an awful film, with literally nothing redeeming about it.It would have been understandable if the theme were about how the girlfriend did not fit in with the upper-crust family, or else how the privileged son went his own way, but this movie is just about nihilism.Not even a glimpse of Sally Struther's breasts make it worthwhile. There, did I go too far?

Robert is a poor guy. This poor means not only on the financial status but also on his life status. The beginning of this movie describes Robert's life steps and the relationships around him. He is not satisfy with those things around him. He doesn't satisfy with his girlfriend , so he finds another girl - Catherine. But Catherine has a total different personality than Robert. She knows exactly what Robert needs and then she puts line to protect Robert away. Because she knows that they have different personality and would argue or fight with each other in the future. I think Robert's personality is like a kind of borderline personality. He doesn't break up with his pregnant girlfriend. The reason why he does that is not because he finds out that he loves her. The real reason is because his education and cognition thoughts don't allow him to stay away with your pregnant girlfriend.