Carnal Knowledge

REVIEW
Director Nichols collaborated with Jules Feiffer to create this brutally honest and surprisingly perceptive examination of American sexual politics, seen over the course of two decades through the eyes of two college buddies and their relationships with various women. The camera is unflinching and revelatory, capturing the most ephemeral of moments: the awkward tentativeness of youthful encounters, the exploitative cynicism of middle-aged desperation, the self-deceptive smug assuredness which accompanies the acquisition of a new partner -- nothing is glossed over or ameliorated. Nicholson is brutally honest in his depiction of a man for whom women are at best a pleasure and at worst an alimony payment. Garfunkel is the best friend who likes to think of himself as more highly evolved. Bergen and Ann-Margret are two of the women who pass through their lives. All give superior performances in a remarkable piece of work.