Racing for Nowhere: Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Two Lane Blacktop

Australian One-Sheet, 1971

The automobile and the motion picture have had a long-standing relationship, having been invented right around the same time; Cars have always had a place in movies since the days of the Keystone Kops, and movies about cars go back almost as far. The ultimate marriage of the motorized vehicle and the moving picture was the drive-in theater, and to me, the ultimate movie about cars is 1971's Two-Lane Blacktop.

Directed by Monte Hellman and written by novelist and screenwriter Rudolph Wurlitzer (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Candy Mountain) from a story by Will Corry, Two Lane Blacktop begins with six minutes of engine noise and almost no dialogue, a kind of automotive overture that sets the stage for one of the great American Movies of the '70s, as well as one of the greatest car racing movies ever.

But it's more than just another racing flick.

Two-Lane Blacktop is 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 brilliantly idiosyncratic, rewarding film. As Jay Cocks wrote in Time magazine, Two Lane Blacktop is one of the best of the “odd, off-pitch movies that followed in the wake of Easy Rider and were immeasurably superior to it.”

That said, it's not for everyone, as many people just don't get it. And that includes a lot of the critics who reviewed the film when it was first released. Despite favorable press prior to its release, the film lost money despite its low budget, and was buried byt the studio, Universal. Over the years, however, it gained status as a cult film and is now recognized as a classic.

The two alienated protagonists are played by well-known musicians. Singer-songwriter James Taylor plays "The Driver" and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys is "The Mechanic." The two 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 an unaffectedly natural performance), who hitches a ride with them by stowing away in the back seat of the Chevy. The film gains traction when they encounter "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), played by the late, great Warren Oates, who challenges them to a cross-country race for pink slips.

A brilliant character actor, Oates had worked with Hellman on 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) as the mostly silent title character. was also a favorite of Sam Peckinpah, who cast him in Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch, and as the lead character in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. His performance in Two Lane Blacktop is one of his finest, and my personal favorite.

He starts out as the villain of the piece, but before long the audience can't help but love the guy. Oates imbues the character of G.T.O. with a real humanity: he's a blowhard one minute, a vulnerable lost soul the next. Picking up a series of hitch-hikers, he tells each one a different story. He's either a pathological liar, or just a guy looking to reinvent himself. He tells one rider, "If I'm not grounded pretty soon, I'm gonna go into orbit."

Another brilliant character actor, Harry Dean Stanton (billed here as H.D. Stanton), has a great bit as a stammering gay cowboy who hitches a ride with G.T.O. In the film's funniest scene, Stanton's character puts his hand on G.T.O.'s leg, only to have it swatted away. G.T.O. snaps at him, "I don't have time for that!"

When he tries it again later that night, G.T.O. kicks him to the curb.

Although the other three main characters are played by "amateurs," they all give believable performances. "Sweet Baby James" 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**ker, and we'll have ourselves an automobile race."

According to Hellman in his illuminating commentary track on the Criterion Collection DVD edition, that line almost got the film an X rating.

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 version of Chuck Berry's "No Money Down." Music clearance issues prevented the movie from ever getting a VHS release, or even being played on television. Luckily, those issues were resolved, so that it can now be seen by a wider audience, and appreciated for the great film that it is.

Recommended for devotees of American Independent Cinema, California car culture, and existentialist gearheads everywhere, Two-Lane Blacktop is a one of a kind film that reveals more with each viewing. Discerning cinephiles will want to own the beautiful two-disc Criterion Collection DVD edition, which features a newly restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by Monte Hellman, as well as two separate commentary tracks from Hellman and Wurlitzer, plus interviews with Taylor, Kristofferson, producer Michael Laughlin, and production manager Walter Coblenz.

Two-Lane Blacktop's most recent Austin screening was in May of 2007 at the Texas Union Theater, but hopefully Tim League at the Alamo Drafthouse will see fit to show it again soon on of his theme nights.

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