Just so...so bad

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

I have just seen a quite unusual movie. Two Lane Blacktop came out in 1971 and I first thought that it was some kind of 'Easy Rider' copy, but I was quite wrong. As a road movie, it is a bizarre experience, that follows two drifters cross the United States in an upgraded 55 Chevrolet challenging other drivers for drag races as they progress east. They take on a drifter girl along on the road and agree to a west to east race with a slimy character in a GTO. All this happens in a weird atmosphere with the bare minimum of dialogue. This is paired together with an absence of purpose and direction. They seem to be in a race, yet they don't seem to strive towards their goal , the end of the movie is so telling of this tendency, it didn't almost surprise me any more. An interesting movie, but not to my taste. 5,8/10 " - rogdie

"Two Lane Blacktop" is like a porno movie without the sex.You do see a lot of driving but none of it is interesting. Characters wander around, encounter each other, hint that they might race or have raced or will race. When a race at last happens, it lasts for about three seconds, and the movie doesn't think to tell you who won. The tedium is underscored by a shot inside one of the racing vehicles, where we see that the female passenger is asleep.James Taylor does make an intriguing screen presence, if not a very capable actor. Dennis Wilson is neither. Warren Oates is the only real "character", though the movie has a frustrating habit of never really showing you anything completely; when Oates says the other two have been following him trying to race him, you never find out if this is actually true.The female passenger I suppose does create some kind of tension between the characters, though of course it amounts to nothing.For an ultimate gear head movie, the two musicians turned actors seem to find no source of excitement or stimulation in the cars they drive or the possibility of driving them faster. They sleepwalk through the movie, and you'll probably sleepwalk out of it.

With a movie like "Two-Lane Blacktop", just knowing the character names will give you an idea of the existential road movie you're in for: The Driver, The Mechanic, Girl, GTO. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson are speed demon, tearing up the road in a stripped-down '55 Chevy (lacking even a basic heater because it'll slow her down). They just sorta happen upon Warren Oates in his spankin' new GTO and both engage in a cross-country race. This is a nomad's movie; drifting along the road, throughout the country, through life. It doesn't have a distinct beginning, middle, or an ending because it's not about that; it's about being out there. Which is great, and I liked the final shot of the melting film. But it left me cold. I wanted to know more about these people, something to hold onto. But this only lets us drift in and out of these characters' lives just as they do with each other. And being kept at arm's length was disappointing.6/10

The book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is where I found this film, obviously it is not one I would have heard of before finding the book, but with musicians acting in it I was certainly intrigued, and I knew the title related to a car, so I watched it. Basically car freaks The Driver (singer James Taylor) and The Mechanic (The Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson) are driving through the southwestern United Sattes looking for other cars to race, they currently drive a 1955 Chevy, a Chevrolet 150, they are dedicated to this vehicle and meet up when necessary. On the journey The Driver and The Mechanic are joined by The Girl (Laurie Bird), and they stop at a gas station and meet middle- aged man G.T.O. (The Wild Bunch's Warren Oates), who drives a 1970 Pontiac GTO and invents stories about his exploits to various hitchhikers he picks up. The characters all combine and agree to compete in a race to Washington D.C., the winner of the race will get the loser's car, and on the way we see the metaphorical lives of the contestants and their struggles to reach their destination and beat their competitors. Also starring Harry Dean Stanton as Oklahoma Hitchhiker, David Drake as Needles Station Attendant, Richard Ruth as Needles Station Mechanic and Jaclyn Hellman as Driver's Girl. To be honest I agree with critics, this film is a bit too laid back that it is not all that exciting or fascinating, but Taylor and Wilson prove themselves relatively good at acting, and Oates gives a memorable enough performance, it is obviously a cult movie that was trying to delve into the same success created by Easy Rider, it is an alright road movie drama. Worth watching!