Two Lane Blacktop Review

Number one on the list of my Top Ten Car Movies is 1971's Two Lane Blacktop, directed by Monte Hellman from a script by Rudolph Wurlitzer (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Candy Mountain). It's a movie that begins with six minutes of engine noise and no dialogue, a kind of automotive overture that sets the stage for one of the great American Movies of the 1970s, as well as one of the greatest car racing movies ever. But it's more than just another racing flick.

It's more of an existential road movie, a cinematic tone poem, where such things as plot and dialogue take a back seat to visually arresting widescreen cinematography and a series of wonderfully played moments that add up to a brilliant, rewarding film.

Two of the leads are played by well-known musicians. James Taylor plays "The Driver" and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson is "The Mechanic," who drive around in search of a street race in their souped-up '55 Chevy. Into their insular world comes "The Girl" (Laurie Bird, another non-actor who gives a wonderfully natural performance), who hitches a ride with them, and G.T.O., played by the inimitable Warren Oates (or, as he was known to his friends, "Ol' Horny Warts"), who challenges them to a cross-country race for pink slips.

A brilliant character actor, Oates worked with Hellman in the 1967 western The Shooting (another art film disguised as a genre piece) and later in 1974's Cockfighter (a/k/a Born to Kill) and was also a favorite of Sam Peckinpah, who cast him in Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. His performance in Two Lane Blacktop is certainly one of his finest, and my personal favorite. He imbues the character of G.T.O. (none of the characters actually have names in the film, but Oates's drives a cherry 1970 G.T.O., hence the moniker) with a real humanness, a blowhard one minute, a vulnerable lost soul the next. He picks up a series of hitch-hikers, and tells each one a different story. He's either a pathological liar, or just a guy looking to reinvent himself. He starts oout as the villain of the piece, but before long the audience can't help but love the guy. Again, genius.

Another great character actor, Harry Dean Stanton, has a great bit as a gay cowboy who hitches a ride with G.T.O.

Although the other three main characters are played by "amateurs," they all give excellent performances. Taylor is particularly intense, still very handsome and in possession of all his hair. He has some great moments in the film, particularly when challenging a local hot rodder to a race. The other driver (played by screenwriter Wurlitzer), goaded by Taylor's deprecating remarks about his jalopy, takes the bait and offers to drag race for fifty bucks. Taylor's reply is classic: "Make it three yards, motherf***er, and you've got yourself an automobile race."

According to Hellman in his illuminating commentary track, that line almost got the film an X rating.

The two-disc Criterion Collection edition also features a separate commentary from Wurlitzer, and the following extras:

Ironically, neither Taylor or Wilson contributed to the music for the film, which includes the Doors' "Moonlight Drive," Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee," and John Hammond's "No Money Down." Music clearance issues prevented this cult classic from ever getting a VHS release, but this deluxe DVD reissue was well wortth the wait.

I highly recommend this film for any fan of American Cinema, and for fans of California car culture and gearheads everywhere.