Lost classic...Nicholson kills it.

Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge was originally written as a play, and that's rather obvious. Small cast (an impressive one), mostly people talking, character exploration, gotcha. We follow two college roommates over the span of 25 years (I found this less readily apparent than the film wants me to, however - I would have believed less than 5), focusing on their sexual adventures. An early scene posits that people change based on who they are interacting with, but I'm not entirely sure the rest of the film agrees, or else Art Garfunkel's character melts into whatever relationship he's in, while Jack Nicholson's bucks the trend and rebels against that notion. Or maybe I'm not looking at it correctly, and the idea is better manifest in the way the two friends interact, with frank and coarse talk, as opposed to what they say and do in their relationships. Which one is the act? Garfunkel's Sandy is vulnerable with his ladies, and is only playing the part of a bro, agreeing with whatever is being said at the time. Nicholson's Jonathan is the reverse, playing games with women to get sex, but ultimately, a navel-gazing--no, a penis-gazing narcissist who is only ever about satisfying his libido. The men in this are pretty unlikable at any rate, and the richer, deeper, more effective, and better played characters are the women - Candice Bergen, Ann-Margaret, even Rita Moreno and Carol Kane in their smaller roles. But the movie, like its subjects, keeps abandoning them and returning to the central dicks.

Cynthia O'Neal here is my kind of woman. total cougar.