Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop film review

Movie Review

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Picture of movie director and writer Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater
Full size photo The girl, the driver and the mechanic picture from the film Two-Lane Blacktop

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Stars Laurie Bird, James Taylor, Dennis Wilson.

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Indie icon Richard Linklater, attending the Toronto International Film Festival to promote his two new experimental features "Tape" and "Waking Life", took part in the "Dialogues" series to present the cult film "Two Lane Blacktop" and relish the opportunity to engage in some hearty "film geek" on a movie that wasn't his own.

Linklater told the small audience that he had read of "Two Lane Blacktop" in various film books as a teen (as had I, specifically Danny Peary's "Cult Movies Vol. 1"), but since the film was then unavailable due to conflicts with music rights, he'd given up any hope of ever seeing it. One night, he stumbled across it on a rare late-night TV showing, around the same time he was finishing his first Super 8 feature and prepping "Slacker". So impressed with the film was Linklater, that he immediately wrote a fan letter to the reclusive Monte Hellman and included a video copy of his amateur film. Hellman wrote back a few months later, with some words of written encouragement for Linklater that apparently went a long way in convincing people to work on "Slacker" for free (Hellman would also mentor Tarantino on "Reservoir Dogs").

"Two Lane Blacktop"s plot could barely fill the back of a video box: Singer/songwriter James Taylor ("Fire And Rain") and late Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson are "The Driver" and "The Mechanic", who pick up a hitchhiking "Girl" (Laurie Bird) while challenging fast-talking rival "GTO" (Warren Oates) to a race along the southwest to Washington. The Driver rarely speaks outside of his vehicle, a souped up '55 Chevy, and his Mechanic rarely speaks of anything BUT cars. The Girl shows equal affections to both men, then to their rival, a middle-aged drifter who a different personal history for each hitchhiker. Eventually, relationships break down, the vehicles break down, and the race eventually dissipates into a forgotten idea. The film ends with an image of The Driver, alone, melting under the heat of the projector bulb.

A box office and critical flop in its time, the film was likely too slow-moving and existential for a film-climate still reeling from the breakthrough of "Easy Rider". Where the characters in Hopper's film pontificate endlessly and wear the film's themes on their biker garb, Monte Hellman's alienated leads crusade for seemingly nothing, and are little more than flesh-and-blood extensions of the their automobiles, which are arguably the film's TRUE stars. In its best moments, "Two Lane Blacktop" plays like "Mad Max" as directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. In its worst, it's hopelessly dated, and as dull and pretentious as the worst film school indulgences, barely saved by the easy charm and many memorable one-liners awarded to the late, great Warren Oates.

Richard Linklater gleefully acknowledged BOTH interpretations from a split audience, and lauded its refusal to conform to the rules of its (or any other) era. "Two Lane Blacktop is, like, the last film of the sixties, and the first film of the seventies", he enthused. "One of those classic how-the-hell-did-they-ever-get-this-made-at-a-Hollywood-Studio-and-released movies that they just don't make anymore." Certainly, "Two Lane Blacktop" would have a hard time of it today wooing ticket buyers from even the worst Freddie Prinze Jr. vehicle, but it's hard to imagine this enigmatic road trip/head trip ever being an easy sell to even the most generous of studio regimes.

With the casting of two music stars as a selling point, Hellman found financing from Universal --hungry to tap into the youth market--and shot the film around the same time as "Easy Rider". But upon delivery, "Two Lane Blacktop" baffled the suits and wasn't released until 1971, when it was predicted by Esquire magazine to be the Film Of The Year, only to later be awarded "The Dubious Achievement Award" by the same publication.

Those of you feeling adventurous can now discover this long-lost relic on video and DVD, released last year by Anchor Bay Home Video in both a bare bones and special edition. Like any car trip, the drive can be fun, even if the destination turns out to be a bummer.

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