Disappointed Rider

So I'm working my way through the AFI's Top 100 Movies (the 2007 list). I noted earlier that I had seen only 55 of the top 100 films, so in the last five weeks I've watched another half a dozen classics and enjoyed most of them. Most surprising was Annie Hall (1977), a surprisingly witty if not slightly disturbing Woody Allen film that I was sure I would hate. I also really enjoyed Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). I even watched my first feature length silent film, Sunrise (1927).

But I finally watched one that I detested from the disgusting opening scene to the final eye-rolling close. Easy Rider (1969), #84 on AFI's list, was a my first true disappointment. Not only was the drug-saturated content reprehensible, but I was let down by the acting (is it method acting if you're smoking real marijuana on screen?). Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson staggered through the movie which largely consisted of riding motorcycles in a drug-induced stupor through beautiful scenery to the tunes of the 1960's. They stop occasionally to smoke dope, talk to hippies, sell cocaine, complain about "the man," and take LSD.

Hmm, some movie.