Blood & Wine (1996)

If ever there was a reason for a man exiting middle age to pull the gun out of his mouth and turn his attention to the DVD player, it is to cheer on a manifestly matured Jack Nicholson’s attempt to win the heart and hind end of ridiculously ripe Jennifer Lopez in Blood & Wine (1996), the concluding chapter of iconic ’60s director Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces (1970) saga. Deftly mixing the emotional dynamics of a family drama with the anxious heat of a sexually charged caper flick, Rafelson keeps the graying viewer pulling for Nicholson through every turn of plot and twist of Lopez’s hips. Blood & Wine’s hand is not tipped until the very last frame has played.