Carnal Knowledge

Two college friends, Jonathan and Sandy, talk about women for twenty-five years. What surfaces as they talk is that neither has ever managed real closeness with anyone. Mike Nichols directed, from a screenplay Jules Feiffer adapted from his own play. Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel star, with Ann-Margret and Candice Bergen in support. The budget was 5 million dollars and it was shot in New York City and Vancouver. It took 12.3 million in US and Canadian rentals. Reviews split. Roger Ebert gave it four stars and praised Nicholson. Charles Champlin called it the iciest, most merciless and most repellent major motion picture. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 89 percent from 35 reviews. It became the subject of a censorship case. A theatre manager in Georgia was prosecuted for obscenity for screening it. The Supreme Court's 1974 decision in Jenkins v. Georgia overturned the conviction, holding that the camera does not focus on the bodies of the actors during the intimate scenes. Ann-Margret won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Oscar. Nicholson and Garfunkel were nominated for Golden Globes too. Who it is for: viewers who like hard seventies American drama and uncomfortable character studies. Who it is not for: anyone expecting sympathy. The film leaves both men exposed to the end and rescues nobody.