It's like a Wes Anderson movie that's been stripped of all it's over-twee'd veneer. The humor, the quirky characters, and the Americana is still there, but it's gritty and real.

Great acting by Jack Nickolson

I think the film couldn't be without its disjointed feel, and at best serves some great comedy moments particularly the hitchhiker sequence. We often land in scenes rather than being set at ease with context. The full picture of each character is never close to clear, we're kept at a distance, viewing slices of disillusioned American life, not some measured progression of reconciliation.

@devilsadvocado I hadn't thought too much about how hard Bobby falls for Catherine, but for a man so emotionally isolated and chronically dissatisfied with where he finds himself, it doesn't surprise me that he would jump at the chance for - what he’s viewing as - a meaningful and honest intimate connection, while re-inhabiting a past that appears to be so bereft of one. Also explains why in the following scene, he's so harsh on Ray. Catherine represents some ideal. But Ray is the reality, and ultimately an unfulfilling one.

The ending was never going to be pretty, but I think it worked because it felt truthful. He couldn’t reconcile with his father, so therefore wasn’t going to reconcile with himself.

It’s no coincidence the father figure is rendered non-communicative. What is Bobby to do when faced not with a comforting embrace but with a mirror exposing only his own cold reality. This coldness is indicative of the New Hollywood era. These pained individuals weren’t supposed to be alone in their fight. These stories aren’t here to show us parent/child issues can be resolved, and that we move on to brighter futures. They demonstrate what you’re left to contend with in stark isolation, and how you’ll always become who you are, even if it means leaving the girl who loves you in a car park.