Two-Lane Blacktop

I’m sure there’s a reason for this film but I couldn’t find it and was too bored to dwell on it. A couple of hours I’ll never get back. Avoid. Watched on DVD.

Anyone who ever set out on a doomed road trip will relate to Two Lane Blacktop. What at first seems like an Easy Rider retread quickly veers off from typical road movie sentimentality and becomes lost in the back roads of ennui and a foreboding sense of nihilism.

Pointless with no real plot continuity. The actors never smile - seem forever constipated. A cult classic because you would have to be in a cult to think this was a good film.

This is quite an easy watch - certainly a good diverting film if you like cars, particularly classic cars. Although the film is primarily about a car race, it felt pretty laid back. Its a nice, easy watch with some interesting enough characters, so yes, I'd recommend it, although the story maybe wasn't as clear and it perhaps wasn't as tense and exciting as some perhaps may hope it to be, if you assume it to be a non stop action film.

"I'd just like to know one thing, are we still racing or what? I've got speed to think about." Warren Oates, you're the dude who picks up every damn hitchhiker he sees. Your life has fallen apart and you're racing a couple of drifters cross-country while toting around hippies and old ladies. Two-Lane Blacktop immediately jumps out at you with its particularly nomadic atmosphere; we are introduced to a pair of protagonists that feel like buccaneers sailing the unpredictable, rolling waves of pre-interstate Route 66. It's a lifestyle that only attracts a few particular personalities, none of them especially well-adjusted; the emotionally reclusive 'Mechanic' and 'Driver' (Wilson and Taylor), the habitual hitchhiker 'Girl', and story-prone 'GTO' (Oates), who drops this little number on you late in the runtime: "if I'm not grounded pretty soon, I'm going to go into orbit." The hum of the engine and the miles under the belt is what keeps these people going, and to slow down is to die. Treating its setting as a refuge and brutal environment alike, Hellman's cult classic is one of the few road movies that feels totally and completely immersed in the identity of the lifestyle, a kinship that brings together plenty of those who would otherwise never meet. When Driver sharply shuts down GTO as he attempts to dive into an expositional tearjerker, it's more than a standoffish comment to prevent things from getting too chummy; it's confirmation that this motley crew is brought together not by background but instead by the path they walk (or rather, drive), no more, no less. And you only see him for a second, but James Mitchum's face is a carbon copy of his father's. (4/5)

Perhaps all road movies should feel this desolate and uncertain. Hellman's brilliance here is taking a number of elements that shouldn't work (James Taylor's and Dennis Wilson's performances) or should be in a more conventional movie (the cross country race plot point) and mixing them together into something that feels totally unique.

Warren Oates saves this film with his character and performance. It's hard to imagine Taylor and Wilson carrying this picture considering the purposeful omission of any background or even motive of the main characters. If you liked Easy Rider you will like this too.

Hated it Not enough racing Too many freaking silent moments and just endless panning shots going from one scene to the next

I'm not sure if I get why this movie is considered a Master of Cinema. I don't know if I get this movie, there is a problem that I had with this movie, expectations. When I read this one is a great movie along side Easy Rider well you just can't help, but expect something unique. Easy Rider nor The Last Picture Show this is. The movie it's ambiguous just like it's protagonist, in this ambiguity you can read many thing from this movie if you want to, the type of movie that says more about how you may interprate it than the movie saying something, the true problem for me is that I am not sure the movie does say something at all.

Classic film noir, very dark and understated. James Taylor plays The Driver in a cool but slightly retarded way. Dennis Wilson as The Mechanic is just plain cool, period. Laurie Bird...poor girl...does a good job in her role, very true to the period. Warren Oates as Taylor's racing nemesis "GTO" is great, provides some much needed comic relief. He's the only real actor in the movie (other than a brief but memorable appearance by Harry Dean Stanton) and Oates excels as a pathological liar who will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for him to pick up the next hitchhiker. But the real stars of this movie IMO are the cars. Taylor/Wilson's primer gray 1955 Chevy is probably the coolest car to ever be in a drama...454 engine with tunnel ram induction and dual quad carburetors, 4-speed manual transmission, racing slicks, "Grump Lump" hood scoop, American Racing Daisy wheels. Everything perfect. Oates' GTO Judge is also perfect for the role. If you buy the CD, make sure you get the collector's edition with commentary by the director and producer.