An uncomplicated film for complicated times; Easy Rider is the road movie to end all road movies. The plot is simple enough, 2 hippies (Fonda and Hopper) make one big score dealing cocaine, buy 2 fat hogs and saddle up to ride down to Mardi Gras. Well, along the way the boys encounter friends and enemies (mostly the latter) until they end up in jail for parading without a permit! Enter Nicholson...Jack plays a drunk ACLU lawyer named George who comes from a priviledged background. But, he can relate to these longhairs and in fact has more than a little in common with their world view. I don't want to give away any more of the plot as you must watch to be shocked, but let's just say it doesn't end pretty. Peter Fonda's Captain America character is a pure optimist and the embodiment of what America used to be. He is accepting, caring and fiercely original. Fonda turns in a strong understated performance. Hopper's character is more of the stereotypical hippie, complete with paranoid rants and goofy behavior. He's definitely not the straight man here and his performance is too over the top. Nicholson steals the show even for the brief amount of time he's actually in the film...a truly great performance. Easy Rider shares a commonality with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in fact the two plots are basically interchangable: 2 friends set out in search of America and couldn't find it anywhere. There are a few problem's like the acid trip scene which is ridiculously overdone and the ending which paints an overly pessimistic America to come. But, in the end there's no denying the simple genius here. The landscapes are breathtaking and so is the soundtrack (The Band, Grateful Dead, Hendrix, etc.). This is one trip you must take. Highly Recommended.