Back when he was merely irksome, not insufferable: a Jack Nicholson double feature

We know him now as the foremost ham at the Oscars and scenery-chewer extraordinaire. But have you ever gone back to Jack Nicholson's older films to study the road to today's pomposity? After scattered viewings over the years of a few of Ol' Jack's earlier works -- "Easy Rider," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Carnal Knowledge," "Chinatown," even the original "Little Shop of Horrors" -- I recently knocked out a couple of other movies that have contributed to Mr. Eyebrows' legacy.

(Note: I actually like Nicholson just fine. "Chinatown" and "Cuckoo's Nest" both are pretty good, and it's hard to resist his roles in "The Shining" and "A Few Good Men." Heck, I even thought "Wolf" wasn't bad. But I think we can agree that Jack's gotten a bit annoying in recent years, and not just in "Anger Management.")

One difficult story: "Five Easy Pieces"

Here's one of those so-called classics, complete with a legendary scene, that left me with a great big "So that's it?" feeling. Talk about being disappointed.

Maybe I'm being too hard on this movie, but it mostly struck me as another one of those brooding 1970s mood pieces. Nicholson is a former classical pianist now slumming it on oil rigs or something like that. His woman wants him to settle down, but he doesn't go for that. Then he has to go home for a family emergency, and we get some insight into who he is and how he doesn't fit in. What a rogue.

You know what? Big deal. Seriously, it's clear that "you had to be there" in the '70s for this movie to make sense. Otherwise, I'm left with a few decent scenes of Nicholson defying the norm -- including the famous "I want you to hold it between your knees" scene in a diner. Like I said, it could be me, but in the end, I just didn't get it.

Yet no explanation of how they got on the Cracker Jack box: "The Last Detail"

This one doesn't get as much praise as "Pieces" or other early Nicholson, but I had heard of it, and my handy DVR rating guide gave it three stars. That's perhaps a bit generous, but at least stuff happened in this movie.

Here, Jack is a Navy guy who, along with another officer, is ordered to transport yet another Navy guy to prison for some BS offense. This makes for a road picture of sorts, with Nicholson intent on showing the young prisoner (a startlingly boyish Randy Quaid) a good time before he goes behind bars. As you might guess, hijinks ensue.

The education of young Quaid makes for some entertaining scenes and some nice life lessons. It also allows Nicholson to ham it up, which I guess works OK for the role. After all, his character's nickname is "Bad Ass." Also of note in "Detail" are Clifton James, character actor extraordinaire, including as Sheriff J.W. Pepper in two James Bond movies; a very young Michael Moriarty as a Marine officer; and Carol Kane as a hooker.

Yes, Carol Kane as a hooker. (Technically, "Young Whore.") Perhaps you recall her as the ugly crone married to Billy Crystal in "The Princess Bride" or the babysitter in "When a Stranger Calls." Before those roles, though, she showed a little skin here, and I gotta say, it was disorienting. There I was, thinking, "Is that Carol Kane?" Then, boom, we see her post-coitus with Quaid. Now there are two people I never expected to see naked in bed together. Nor wanted to, really.