Pushing the limits of the still-young MPAA ratings system, Mike Nichols and Jules Feiffer approached Carnal Knowledge's emphatically adult subject matter with a then-shocking candor that was seen as at once a catharsis for the male filmmakers and an exposé of their generation. There are no happy endings for either idealist Sandy or predator Jonathan, as Nichols and Feiffer implicitly link their sexual values to male greed and solipsism. While critical opinion was split over whether Carnal Knowledge was a mature inquiry into America's dirty secrets or a slick, empty case study of pathology, audiences responded -- whether with cringing recognition or youthful pleasure at their elders' idiocy -- and the film became a hit. Even if its language and sex may no longer seem as controversial, Carnal Knowledge remains an acute dissection of male emotional infancy.
