Two Lane Blacktop is a 1971 movie directed by Monte Hellman.
Two Lane Blacktop tells the story of The Driver and The Mechanic, who drive their 1955 Chevrolet across the country in search of opponents to race. They encounter GTO, a middle-aged racer and make a bet to see who can reach Washington, DC first.
I’m not sure how to properly describe Two Lane Blacktop. It’s either a minimalist classic by design or necessity. It’s both realistic and existential. The lead actors are famous musicians who barely speak. There’s no resolution to the story’s simple plot.
In short, it’s a fascinating movie experiment.
In terms of car movies of the time, it’s the antithesis of 1971’s Vanishing Point – which featured a fantastic car and bloated, clumsy social commentary. Two Lane Blacktop is all about the cars – yet somehow still makes important statements about society.
Unlike Vanishing Point, we don’t need to know the backstory of The Driver. In fact, we don’t even need to know his name. Or the names of The Mechanic, The Girl or GTO. Certainly, there’s intrigue to be found in these characters – but Two Lane Blacktop rightly puts the focus on two things: cars and races.
With only some slight exceptions, all the dialogue in the movie is focused on the cars. It’s the lone thing The Driver and The Mechanic talk about. How the car runs, who is a good race opponent and how much money is involved is all that matters. We know nothing more about their relationship – it’s not even suggested that these two are friends.
Warren Oates’ GTO and Laurie Bird’s The Girl offer more depth – to a point. Oates’ GTO appears earnest in his attempts to connect with a series of hitchhikers – at least until you realize that he’s a pathological liar. He’s full of empty promises and vague gestures.
The girl exhibits a profound sadness and possible depression. She becomes entwined with the other three – she is romantic with The Mechanic and wary of The Driver. GTO uses her as a means of collecting information from the others. There is a vacancy to her that suggests a traumatic past, yet her exit from the movie is quickly forgotten.
The limited dialogue in the movie plays to the inexperience of both James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. The two singers approach their novice roles from different places. Wilson simply exists – there’s not a lot of emotional range and he delivers his lines with a laconic nudge. Given his history, there’s a great chance he was stoned throughout the shooting.
Taylor gives The Driver a unique edge simply with his permanent scowl. There’s a direct nastiness about his character – driven by his singular focus of winning races. He’s scornful of anything or anyone else. Some softness emerges when he tries to engage with The Girl but ultimately the sentiment is short-lived.
Taylor’s intensity is jarring – especially given his mellow singing persona. He’s reserved but his words are purposeful and potent. A street racer wants to negotiate. The Driver doesn’t: “Make it three yards, motherfucker and we’ll have an automobile race.” Later, he dismisses GTO: “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you. Of course, there’s a lot of cars on the roads like look like yours.”
Oates is excellent as GTO – a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Throughout the movie, he tries to bolster his image as everything from a test pilot to a TV executive to a world traveler. Picking up a series of hitchhikers, GTO tries out these roles and stories – almost in an attempt at self-rationalizing where his life went wrong. When confronted about his past, he simply deflects the conversation or makes up a new story.
GTO is clearly trying to connect with anyone – or at least achieve some absolution from prior events. The most stark scene – and one that allows you to empathize with him – occurs when The Driver and The Mechanic offer a mid-race truce. Sensing an opening, GTO laments his past: “Everything fell apart. My job, my family. I had this job as a television producer.”
The Driver’s cold reply: “I don’t want to hear about it. It’s not my problem.”
And onto the racing.
One of the beauties of Two Lane Blacktop are sequences of guerrilla filmmaking. Real drag races open the movie and several shots are taken at a Memphis racetrack. The cars belong to locals who unknowingly linger in background shots. There’s even a sense of menace when Wilson and Taylor are questioned in Arkansas: “you all wouldn’t be hippies, would you?”
This realism adds to the intrigue of the movie’s final scene – which by all accounts is either an existential cliffhanger or an admission that no one could finish the story.
Either way, it’s an intriguing device to end a truly unique movie.
The BEST – The Hitchhikers
GTO picks up an assortment of odd characters during his travels. When a hitchhiker tries to rub his leg, he responds: “I’m not into that. This is competition.” Later, a cynical hippie quickly rejects GTO and asks to be let out. “What do we have – 30 to 40 years left?”
The BEST Part 2 – The Cars
Oates’ GTO is an amazing car and the 1955 Chevrolet is equally fun. However, some of the cars that make cameos during the races are stunning. A Corvette and the El Camino in the closing scene are the highlights.
The WORST -The Driver Doesn’t Get the Girl
When The Girl takes off on a stranger’s motorcycle, it feels like Taylor’s eyes can both bend steel and are about to burst. It’s the one moment in the movie where we almost derive some real emotion and it’s quickly snatched away.
FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 4.25/5
I’m a sucker for unconventional ideas. In this case, the casting of Taylor and Wilson is brilliant. Additionally, Hellman makes exceptional use of a limited budget to create a gritty environment that’s filled with mystery. Two Lane Blacktop is an extraordinary and resourceful movie.
