Saw it for the first time a year or so ago and found it highly overrated. Maybe I need to see it again and absorb it more but it just left me cold.
A beautiful little minimal opus of a film. Probably the best American road movie and one of the 5 best American films of the 70s probably.
I’d pick it over “Easy Rider” for sure. It avoids those easy cliches.
GTO stands out in the film to me. His need to constantly alter his backstory to suit his passenger may be just a character quirk, but I always kinda felt that it was symbolic of the American ideal that we can be anything we want to be, just taken to an extreme.
Pair “Two Lane Blacktop” with “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” for a double feature of oddly patriotic caricatures of America.
@Bobby
It’s more of an abstract versus emotional film, so I can understand your reaction. I could have easily had the same reaction especially since I haven’t formulated a coherent interpretation to understand the film. But the images, ideas and mood just connected with me for some reason.
@Scubadonc
I guess that’s a valid interpretation of GTO, but I didn’t really take it that way. To me, these stories said something about his dissatisfaction and related to his sense of being lost. What I liked was that both the establishment type (GTO) and the anti-establishment type were both alienated. They were rootless and connect to anything deeper.
@Doinel
I’d definitely choose this over Easy Rider. Easy Rider is clumsy and didactic, especially compared to Two Lane Blacktop.
I think its the best American road movie ever made, it truly captures that end of the 60s dissolution fell that people like Hunter s Thompson wrote about. I think it surpasses easy rider which has become a victim of its own success and is overly referenced everywhere.
Underrated and misunderstood. One of the best American films of the 70s for sure. It is one film that is especially important to watch in a theatre, the last scene is a mind blower.
It was a box office failure, people were expecting something else, maybe. The critics were not too kind to it either.
@Francisco
I liked the ending, but I don’t know if I’d describe it as “mind-blowing” (I don’t completely object to that characterization, either). How about expanding on that.
It is just that when I saw at a theater it really felt right, like it was the only way to end the movie. Maybe it was not 100% original (had been used before by the Lettrists and Bergman and maybe even before in experimental film) but it felt true to the film and to the Zeitgeist of Cambodia and Kent State.
Maybe I am too much a late boomer, got a contact high by growing up among hippys.
(spoilers)
Are you referring to the actual film burning out, the fact that it ends with the driver in a race or both? The burning out seems a bit heavy-handed to me—almost of a violation of the film’s subtle approach. Indeed, I remembered the ending with a fade out, which I still like better. It’s quieter and less dramatic, but haunting and more powerful.
But I liked that we see the driver driving and driven towards the finish line—which signified for me, “pay day” or “victory”—which was empty and hollow.
both.
Richard Linklater’s Things I Love About Two-Lane Blacktop
Because it’s the purest American road movie ever.
Because it’s like a drive-in movie directed by a French New Wave director.
Because the only thing that can get between a boy and his car obsession is a girl, and Lori Bird perfectly messes up the oneness between the Driver, the Mechanic, and their car.
Because Dennis Wilson gives the greatest performance ever by a driver.
Because James Taylor seems like a refugee from a Robert Bresson movie.
Because there was once a god who walked the Earth named Warren Oates.
Because there’s a continuing controversy over who is the actual lead in this movie. There are different camps. Some say it’s the ‘55 Chevy, some say it’s the GTO.
Because it has the most purely cinematic ending in film history.
Because it’s like a western. The guys are like old-time gunfighters, ready to out-draw the quickest gun in town. And they don’t talk about old flames, but rather old cars they’ve had.
Because Warren Oates has a different cashmere sweater for every occasion. And of course the wet bar in the trunk.
Because unlike other films of the era with the designer alienation of the drug culture and the war protesters, this movie is about the alienation of everybody else, like Robert Frank’s American Comes Alive.
Because Warren Oates, as GTO, orders a hamburger and an Alka Seltzer and says things like “Everything is going too fast and not fast enough.”
Because it’s both the last film of the ‘60s — even though it came out in ’71 — but it’s also the first film of the ‘70s. You know, that great era of “How the hell did they ever get that film made at a studio/Hollywood would never do that today” type of film.
Because engines have never sounded better in a movie.
Because these two young men on their trip to nowhere don’t really know how to talk. The Driver doesn’t really converse when he’s behind the wheel, and the Mechanic doesn’t really talk when he’s working on the car. So this is primarily a visual, atmospheric experience. To watch this movie correctly is to become absorbed into it.
And, above all else, Two-Lane Blacktop goes all the way with its idea. And that’s a rare thing in this world; a completely honest movie.
Two-Lane Blacktop goes all the way with its idea.
Yup, one must be there….
Thanks for the information folks, that’s one film along with Cutter’s Way I haven’t seen yet that reconstruct the American mythology and its inhabitants.
@Dimitris
FWIW, I preferred this a lot more over Cutter’s Way. CW has some nice things going for it (nice performance by Bridges), and the tone of the film is interesting. The other two key actors didn’t really work for me, though.
As far as I’m concerned, “Greatest American Road Movie”" and “Two-Lane Blacktop” are interchangeable. You can’t referring to one without referring to the other, since they’re essentially the same thing.
Loved this movie. And didn’t mind the ending either.
@Odi
What did you think of my preference for a slow fade out, sans sound for an ending?
A discussion with Joks about this film brought to mind several details about the film that I wanted to put down here. While watching the film, one could get the sense that it was about the young people part of the counter-culture in 60’s America, but by the end, the film transcends this parameters. Indeed, I think the interesting thing is the way in which the films shows the similiarities between the individuals within the counter-culture and the establishment (GTO). They’re both sort of lost, seeking fullfilment, but never finding it (maybe because they’re trying to find it in the wrong places). There’s some interesting overlap between the two sets of characters. The Driver and Mechanic appear to be the counter-culture type (partly because of their age), but really, they’re obsession with drag-racing is almost a metaphor for the male ambition for getting ahead in business (or at least it has that vibe for me). At the same time, GTO gravitates towards the counter-culture—or maybe the youth culture at the time. But his attempts are equally empty.
Btw, writing about this also makes me realize that this is a guy movie—even a guy-art movie, if that’s possible. It’s certainly more about men and I wonder how female viewers respond to the film.
One last thing. While watching the film the similarities between Gen X/Y characters and films. I wondered if Gen Xers/Yers would respond and relate to this film. I think the film has significant differences from the films by Gen X filmmakers, but there are similarities.
@Jazz — whoops, I lost this thread for a while! I love the burnout at the end. It is one of the most memorable things about this movie to me. Like he crumpled up a piece of paper he was writing his life’s story on, suddenly.
And, yeah, this is a guy movie, really a guy movie in that females are kind of like, besides the point and incomprehensible though desirable when they’re there. That is one thing I absolutely love about it.
Can I say the word “love” more times about this movie? love love love love love…. you get the picture.
As a Gen Xer, I have to say I scoff at the idea of being classified as anything. :) But I totally responded to this movie because it felt authentic. The relationship between the guys, Driver and Mechanic, felt authentic. There wasn’t a lot of “female” chit chat going on, the way they related to one another in a friendship was totally male. Maybe I also responded with a “I LOVE THIS FILM” reaction because I know those kinds of guys….
@Odi
But how about a slow fade-out, instead? I think it would have been more subtle and haunting. The “burnout” is more explosive—which suggests an ending to the characters that is abrupt. The explosive and more direct quality of the burnout also goes against the tone of the rest of the film, imo. A slow fade to black (following a sound fade) would create the impression that the characters continue to drift, searching for some meaning, futilely going from one race to another. As I said, I think I liked that ending so much, I remember the film ending that way! :)
No – to me, it was perfect as is. His expression before that happens, it was like saying “this life is shit.” It was a statement of total frustration at not being able to figure anything out.
Don’t you remember how, even though he didn’t express it much verbally, he was feeling frustrated toward the end? Maybe throughout the whole movie?
not a girl movie? with all that eye-candy on an endless road? you kiddin? show me a woman that doesn’t like this film. (although my definition of a guy movie might be somewhat limited – either it was directed by john ford or someone gets raped)
Ha ha ha — yeah, Driver and Mechanic are mmmm mmmm good… ;)
@Odi
I think it’s safe to say the Driver is discontent and maybe feeling empty. Also, he does seem to get frustrated during the scene with the girl. But at the end, the shot is taken from the backseat of the car, so you don’t really get to see the Driver’s face.
@Tren
Eye-candy as in James Taylor and Dennis Wilson? That never occurred to me, but I guess so. Still, the presence of hunky, good looking males doesn’t make a film appealing to women, does it? Otherwise, I’d expect females to love most action films, which isn’t the case in my experience.
Besides the male leads, the film focuses quite a bit on cars and drag races—which is largely a male thing, right? The Girl isn’t very interesting in her own right and just seems to complement or comment on the male characters.
And, yeah, this is a guy movie, really a guy movie in that females are kind of like, besides the point and incomprehensible though desirable when they’re there. That is one thing I absolutely love about it.
LOL (the second sentence was a bit unexpected). But yeah, that’s what I mean above^ (except you said it better than I did. :)
@Jazz — I just remember it before the burnout happens. It was stuck in my head…
In case you haven’t figured it out, I adore the fact that men and women are different. It’s a beautiful thing.
well, i didn’t want to drag the conversation down, it was just that all the women i follow that have rated it (c’mon odi, get to it) have given it 5 stars (edit: apart from one). so either they’re all mental, or there’s something in the film that appeals to women (on here).
Jazzaloha
I just recently re-watched this. I admit it’s slow at times and not always easy to know the purpose for some of these scenes (probably the main reason these scenes seem slow to me), but I just love this movie. I’ve heard comparisons to Antonioni, and I feel the same connection—not so much in terms of visual language, but in terms of using of their use of symbols. For example, driving around in cars from one place to another speaks to the alienation of the characters.
I liked the American-ness of the film. For example, it felt like a new type of Western film, but instead of guns/gun battles, you have these cars and races. But there’s a gunfighter vibe to the film (at least with the Driver and Mechanic).
There’s also the open spaces—and the ability to just keep driving and wandering and drifting. (I kept thinking about the way the characters on boats lost at sea.)—and I liked the way the film uses this to create a mood of alienation and discontent, (another connection to Antonioni), but not beat the viewer over the head with these ideas.
I need to spend time thinking about this film more, but I’m lazy (well, that, and I have two other films to think more about—Days of Heaven and Sherman’s March); maybe the discussion in the thread will do provide insights that I try to form on my own.