Easy Rider

Easy Rider.
1969 Raybert Productions & Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson
Director: Dennis Hopper
Buy Easy Rider at Amazon. (Note: the 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, which I own, is now out of print.)

Wyatt (Fonda), nicknamed "Captain America" for his U.S. flag-adorned leather, and Billy (Hopper), who dresses in Native American-style clothing, are two bikers who just smuggled drugs from Mexico to Los Angeles. After selling their haul to a rich man (played by Phil Spector) who drives a Rolls-Royce. The money is stuffed into the fuel tank of Wyatt's bike, and the pair rides eastward, hoping to make it to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras. En route, they pick up a hitchhiker (Luke Askew), taking him to his commune, where they stay for a few days. Life in the commune isn't especially easy, since the residents are largely hippies from urban areas who are inexperienced at growing food. Before they leave, Wyatt and Billy are given some LSD by the hitchhiker, who advises them to share it with "the right people".

Wyatt and Billy join a parade in a small town for laughs, which gets them arrested. They befriend an alcoholic ACLU lawyer, George Hanson (Nicholson), who gets them out of jail, and decides to accompany them. George is introduced to marijuana, and the three of them have a hard time in a small Louisiana town. The teenage girls adore Wyatt and Billy, but the adults and local police want them out of town. George remarks that he can't understand what's "gone wrong" with America. Overnight, the trio is attacked by the local hecklers, and George is murdered.

Arriving in New Orleans, Wyatt and Billy travel to the brothel that George had recommended to them. They take two prostitutes, Karen (played by Karen Black) and Mary (Toni Basil), and wander through Mardi Gras. All four end up in a cemetery, where they drop the acid and experience a really bad trip. Wyatt unwittingly has a vision of his and Billy's ultimate fate.

Wyatt realizes that while their search for freedom was financially successful, it was a spiritual failure, but Billy remains oblivious. They continue their ride towards Florida, where they intend to retire wealthy, when a chance run-in with shotgun brandishing rednecks proves fatal for both of them.

Highly, highly recommended.