Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

brefane Despite it's subject matter, Carnal Knowledge directed by Mike Nichols from a script by cartoonist Jules Feiffer is a dud without a single likable or really interesting character. Nicholson's grating, Bergen lame and simpering, Ann-Margret more tiresome than the role calls for and non-actor Art Garfunkal keeps his head above water more or less. In support, a worn looking Rita Moreno has a good bit as a prostitute, Carol Kane cast for her freakish appearance says nothing and Cynthia O'Neal is repellently smug. Nichols' film is a series of cartoon panels with no sense of any life surrounding the characters. Nichols appears to have been influenced by the films of Bergman and Antonioni though he lacks their brilliance. The result is a dim view of human relationships that is unpleasant and pointless.

George Wright This movie shows us two male friends from college age to maturity and their relationships with women. Art Garfunkel as Jonathan and Jack Nicholson as Sandy are good friends with very different personalities who share a healthy libido focused on women, particularly Candace Bergen as Susan. The opening scene shows the two men attending a low-key social, with 1940's jazz music playing, where Sandy urges Jonathan to make a move towards Susan, the only other girl there. Susan soon becomes friends with Jonathan but also dates Sandy. Both benefit from sexual encounters with her. The story uses a visual technique that makes the viewer feel like a voyeur watching their private conversations and encounters with women. Often filmed in the dark with the characters close-up to the camera, the movie kept my attention. Jonathan is the "sensitive guy" who women supposedly prefer so Sandy uses some of his honest conversational style to win over Susan. Later in their lives, we find Jonathan married to Cindi, played by Cynthia O'Neil, and passingly happy. Sandy is facing a mid-life crisis as his girlfriend, played by Ann-Margret asks him to marry. Sandy looks at women as if they have to attain certain physical standards, a few more inches here, a bit less somewhere else, as if choosing a partner is like picking a good cut of meat. The nudity is explicit by the standards of 1971. The film is not prudish in dealing with sexuality. We see shower scenes with people getting dressed and undressed as common as lighting up a cigarette. The movie has a certain European feel with scenes standing as little vignettes. One scene shows two women sitting on a bench watching a tennis match with neither speaking a word until both leave and we see the image of a lonely bench. Not an upbeat movie, it is an impressive piece of film-making about sexuality in the 1970's.

Michael_Elliott Carnal Knowledge (1971) **** (out of 4)Excellent drama from Mike Nichols takes a look at the three decade friendship between two men (Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkle) and their sex lives. The 1970s brought sex, language and nudity to the big screen and this here was one of the most controversial films of its time but it's also one of the greatest films that has ever dealt with sex and relationships. The movie is brutally raw in its anger, passion and conversations but this is what really makes it stand apart. The dialogue is perfect, the story structure is flawless and we're given some of the best performances that you're ever going to see. I really love the way Nichols structured the picture and especially in the beginning as we see the Garfunkle character fall for a girl (Candice Bergen) but never realizing that Nicholson has gone behind his back and started a relationship with her. The way this love triangle is shown is just flawless in its execution. The middle portion of the film deals with Nicholson's relationship with Bobbie (Ann-Margret) and this too is flawless but incredibly depressing. There's a masterful sequence with the two of them crying and fighting, which is as powerful as anything you're going to see from this era. The entire cast does a fabulous job fitting into their roles. There's no question about Nicholson's brilliance during this era and that includes this film where he plays such a jerk that you can't stand him. The real surprise here is Garfunkel and Ann-Margret, both of them giving the performances of their careers. Nichols' direction is among the best of his career and especially the way he milks the story so well to get every sort of emotion out of it. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE isn't a pretty film to watch due to how ugly the Nicholson character is but it's still one of the best acted films out there and the rawness is something missing from most movies today.

apvalenti The sixties were a time when nearly every boundary was tested. In the seventies we began to learn that boundaries don't necessarily restrict freedom but exist to provide elasticity which stretched too thin too fast can break. Carnal Knowledge follows two buddies through their college years and into middle age a period during which the sexual revolution swept many not into a new land of liberation but to a world of sexual dysfunction, misogyny, and oppression. Jack Nicholson is terrific as man who became a callous, self-centered product of the revolution. Art Garfunkel, in a stiff and uninteresting performance, is Nicholson's erudite buddy. Directed by Mike Nichols, the movie lacks the wit of "The Graduate" and Jules Feiffer's script is leaden without a hint of irony that could elevate the film from tolerable to entertaining. Carnal Knowledge is a curio of late sixties/early seventies film-making that captures, depressingly, the underside of the '60s sexual revolution. Perhaps a wittier, lighter touch would have made this a classic.