Carnal Knowledge

Jack Nicholson played here what he does best. A womanizer who bangs anything he lays his eyes on. I did not enjoy it, especially as this movie started to lack the drama sometime during the beginning of the screenplay. (09/04/2013)

A cool retro conversational drama about the sex life of a few ordinary people in an extraordinary time, which even after all these years is surprising mainly because (as POMO has already said) the human nature hasn't really changed since then, and behind some of the phrases and morsels of wisdom from the mouths of the main characters we can certainly recognize ourselves. It's a shame that the script gradually runs out of breath and I was getting very bored by the end, and not even the exceptional Nicholson or the exceptionally well cast Garfunkel could prevent that. In short, slightly above-par. 65% (08/27/2013)

This apt, open, straightforward and cynical conversational film about relationships is proof that it’s not us humans who change, but the environment around us. The characters here face the same problems, achieving the same results as we do today. In other words, Carnal Knowledge is brilliantly timeless. It is also necessary to see Mike Nichols’ conversational movie Closer, filmed thirty years later, which seems to be an unofficial remake of this film set in a modern, even more cynical environment. (09/08/2009)

Unlike the artificial world of Shortbus, Carnal Knowledge explores sexuality that is not detached from emotional and societal bonds. The film tells the story of two friends who have different relationships with sex and women. One of them longs for true love and family life, while the other, played effortlessly by Jack Nicholson, has a purely consumeristic relationship with sex and women. Despite their different ideals and desires, both ultimately realize disappointment in their own ways. The film is set in the successful American middle-class environment and through its characters, it depicts both America in the 70s, which underwent a successful sexual revolution, and the development of both characters during adolescence and midlife crisis. I must say that if a person chooses a man like lawyer Jack Nicholson as a friend, they don't need any enemies in life anymore... Overall impression: 80%. A psychological drama the way it should be. (07/23/2009)