Drive, He Said
Director: Jack Nicholson
Year Released: 1971
Rating: 1.5
Ohio State basketball star Hector (William Tepper) is having a troubled affair with the wife (Karen Black) of a professor - elsewhere, his good buddy (Michael Margotta) is going mad from drugs because he wants to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War. Perplexing directorial debut by master actor Nicholson attempts to mate two seemingly disparate interests - sports and politics - but it never comes together: he and his crew were trying to capture the spirit of revolt and disgust on college campuses at the time (in response to tension over the war) but the end result is sophomoric and disorganized. The final scene where Margotta, stark naked, frees the insects and snakes from a science room is intriguing in itself, but it belongs at the end of a stronger-minded movie. Still, it's a product of its era, and a curio for fans of Jack's on-screen work.
