Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

I love this movie so much

Wonderful character development!

Nice effects though.

Blistering performances.

Forget all these 'Fast and Furious' and it's derivatives. 'Two-Lane Blacktop' is the real deal. Although it belongs more into counter culture category together with 'Easy Rider', 'Zabriskie Point' and 'Vanishing Point', the street racing is mayor part of the film's plot. Two young men driving cross country in their highly modified '55 Chevy and taking part impromptu drag races. They begin to encounter yellow GTO driver who finally makes a suggestion to race across country to Washington DC.'Two-Lane Blacktop' is notable as a time capsule film as it depicts legendary Route 66 during pre-interstate highway era. The film constantly gets compared with another road movies with existential message such as 'Easy Rider' or 'Vanishing Point', but 'Blacktop' surpasses them by pure style.

James Taylor (known simply as "the Driver") and Dennis Wilson (as "the Mechanic") are two young men who drive around the country and--after sizing up the competition in various towns--make money by racing their '55 Chevy against the opposition. One day they pick up a young hitchhiker known simply as "the Girl" (Laurie Bird) and proceed on their way to the next town. As it so happens, while on the road the next day they repeatedly come across another driver (played by Warren Oates) in a G.T.O. who becomes angry because he feels that he is being challenged by them. So when both cars stop at a gas station somewhere in New Mexico they get into an argument and decide to bet their cars on the way to Washington D.C. Naturally, the G.T.O. is at a disadvantage because he is all by himself while the Chevy can change drivers whenever one of them gets tired. However, it's at this time that we learn more about each of the characters and personal conflicts soon emerge. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that what the film lacks in dialogue it makes up for in its depiction of the life along Route 66 during the early '70s. Because of that it enjoys a cult status among many viewers of this particular genre. That said, while it certainly isn't the best "hot rod film" ever made, it has its good points and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Roaring car engines. Spinning Earth. A road at night. A car drives off straight into the darkness. Two cars next to each other get leveled. A race! Cars get checked by race organizers. Money gets exchanged. A man looks at us. Red light in his hand flashes up. Red dies, green is begotten. Engines start roaring again and now two cars drive into the darkness. Man in blue car tells us: "Watch the fight." Blue is our guy. Same game again. Leveling, red, green, roooar and vanish. Cut to the finish line. Blue arrives first. Red lights flashing in the dark in front of Blue. The other car drives on, Blue turns around, drives back. Red flashing lights chase Blue. Blue slows down to pick up friend. Off they go. Red flashing lights lose Blue.Our man, Blue, The Driver...he's into driving. Not much else. Most of the rest he blocks out. Socially awkward. Except when it comes to setting up races. That he is interested in, so that he can do, motherf***er. Don't tell him how s***ty your life is, he doesn't want to hear about it. But GTO wants to tell him. GTO, a man who likes to talk. Doesn't matter who, anyone will do. A born bulls***ter. A girl joins Blue. She can because she wants to. No questions asked. The friend and the girl make love, or what one calls "making love". The Driver stays out of it. The girl appears in GTO's car. They talk. She lures GTO into racing against the guys. Or with them. Now she helped The Driver to set up a cross country race, and they have a good talk about the s***ty life of bugs. The Driver and the girl end up...I don't know, making out for five minutes. The Driver now participates in a pointless road game. The girl on the backseat, witnessing the power game. A road accident brings it to a halt.One time GTO is talking to The Driver he doesn't want to bulls***. Because GTO just watched how the car that he set up the big race with beat his vehicle in a little race. He used to think he could win the big race. He hoped he could. All the things he lost, all the things he tried. But the road life isn't his either. Now what else has he left to hang on to? Words. Just words. But they don't ground enough. And if he's not grounded pretty soon, he's gonna go into orbit.The girl joins GTO. She can because she wants to. GTO is bulls***ting her about a future together. The girl isn't into it. They walk into a diner. Some boy who looks like the girl sees the two. The girl sees the boy. Meanwhile The Driver wants to find the girl, real bad. He does! The Driver proposes to her a future together. He's not bulls***ting. "No good", says the girl. The guy who looks like her leaves and gets onto his motorcycle. He waits. The girl follows. She can because she wants to. She has to leave behind much of her stuff because there's no space for it on the machine. She doesn't mind, it's just stuff. Three men left behind. They part. Whatever race there once was, it's over. GTO continues to pick up people. To talk to them. To bulls*** them. The Driver is game for his next race.

"Two-Lane Blacktop" is, without a doubt, *the* masterpiece of the unsung director Monte Hellmans' career. At first glance, it might seem to be typical drive-in fare, aimed at the younger audience, with two very cool cars at the forefront. But Hellman, and the screenwriters (Rudy Wurlitzer and Will Corry) aim to create something different. This film is far removed from something such as "The Cannonball Run" and its ilk. It's a memorable depiction of mans' folly of narrowing his life to a single focus. Will the characters here end up open to more of life's possibilities, or remain single-minded ciphers?Hellman works wonders with the script by Wurlitzer and Corry, also creating some of the traditional appeal of a cross country road movie. It's episodic at times, with one of our characters interacting with a wide succession of hitchhikers (one of them played by Harry Dean Stanton, in a poignant cameo). Hellman uses the Panavision aspect ratio to great effect, letting our eyes take in as much as possible at any given moment.Singer / songwriter James Taylor and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys deliver their sole acting performances to date, playing an unnamed Driver and Mechanic, tooling about the U.S.A. in a primer grey '55 Chevy. They repeatedly encounter a man (Warren Oates), doing his own wandering in a yellow Pontiac G.T.O., ultimately challenging him to a cross country road race. The prize will be the pink slip for the losers' automobile.Taylor and Wilson perform adequately for the characters that they play, but they are simply blown off the screen by professional actor Oates, who was rarely better than he is here. G.T.O. is substantially more interesting, and appealing, and is more inclined to question things. Laurie Bird rounds out the main acting quartet, doing a nice job as the young girl tagging along with our Driver and Mechanic.Instead of building to a "big finish", "Two-Lane Blacktop" winds up with a much more low key resolution. It forces its viewers to ponder the reality of obsessions, and what some people choose to do about them.This may be one of the finest cult films of all time.10 out of 10.