| Drive, He Said | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster. |
|
| Directed by | Jack Nicholson |
| Produced by | Steve Blauner Jack Nicholson |
| Written by | Jeremy Larner Jack Nicholson Terrence Malick (uncredited) |
| Starring | William Tepper Karen Black Bruce Dern Robert Towne Henry Jaglom |
| Music by | David Shire |
| Cinematography | Bill Butler |
| Editing by | Donn Cambern Christopher Holmes Pat Somerset Robert L. Wolfe |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 13, 1971 June 30, 1971 July 24, 1971 |
| Running time | 90 mins |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Drive, He Said (1971) is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner. The film is mainly notable as the first directorial effort of Jack Nicholson after his success as an actor in Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970).
It stars Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and regular Nicholson collaborators Robert Towne and Henry Jaglom in leading roles. Towne and Jaglom are better known as screenwriter and director, respectively. Familiar faces such as David Ogden Stiers and Cindy Williams were also featured in small supporting roles. It was filmed on the campus of the University of Oregon and other locations in Eugene, Oregon.
Contents |
The film is an examination of libidinous basketball star Hector Bloom (William Tepper[1]), and contrasts his sporting prowess on the court to his bedroom antics. Most notably, Hector has an affair with his favorite professor's wife Olive (Karen Black) that goes nowhere. This, and many other events, occur within a heated early 1970s backdrop of university politics, sporting hijinx, and anti-war sentiments.
The film was entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
Contemporary reviewers of the film were split in their reception of it. Steven Scheuer found the film "utterly downbeat, and unfortunately dated" [3] even at the time of its release. Roger Ebert found the film “disorganized”, but also said it was “occasionally brilliant” with the performances being “the best thing in the movie”, including the “laconic charm” of Tepper.[4]
In contrast, Leonard Maltin found the film “confusing”, and in spite of fine acting performances still "loses itself in its attempt to cover all the bases".[5] Vincent Canby was complimentary when he lauded the film as being "so much better than all of the rest of the campus junk Hollywood has manufactured in the last couple of years" but felt that the lead male performance was a let-down for the film as a whole.[6]