So John Vanderslice, everyone's best friend, recommended this movie to me years ago when he played at my school. It's taken me a while to finally get around to it, mainly because I'm not really into 70's road movies that aren't Smokey and the Bandit (read: I didn't like Easy Rider. In Two-Lane Blacktop, two long-haired twentysomethings (James Taylor and Dennis Wilson) who can only talk about cars travel around middle America racing their re-tooled Chevy against random assholes. They pick up a young hippie hitchhiker (Laurie Bird), causing some minor friction between the friends. They eventually embark on a cross-country race against a mysterious and cocky driver (Warren Oates). But actually, it's all a big metaphor?
I don't have much to say about this one. It's just not my kind of movie, really. I've always found those sparse, dialogue-and-narrative-light films hit and miss, and the fact that I don't care a lick about cars, but that's what most of the conversations and events here feature, turned me off pretty quickly. There isn't much story or character development, with more attention paid to shots of the gang driving around and sitting quietly in the roaring car, or sitting quietly at a roadside diner, or sitting quietly at a gas station. I assume it's meant to be subtle and introspective, but to me it felt bare. When Warren Oates' strange but likable character enters the picture it becomes more interesting- largely aided by sheer charisma- but the meandering plot and weird shifts in The Girl's (nobody gets a name) personality had me confused.
I know this isn't a bad movie or anything. I liked several parts of it- the adorable Bird, intriguing Oates, and lovely cinematography. I found the social commentary aspects of it interesting as well; a few small scenes focused on how residents of these small, rural towns reacted to their youth and "hippie" looks. As a whole, though, it falls flat. I don't want to say it's because it's too masculine, but I guess that is part of it- Taylor and Wilson's relationship of reserved car-based conversations and matching hair styles didn't exactly resonate with me. And I'm not one for the whole "long-road-as-metaphor-for-life" thing either. I think I am wholly ambivalent towards Two-Lane Blacktop. Yeah, that's it.
3/5
Pair This Movie With: Well, the aforementioned Easy Rider is the obvious choice, but I don't even like that movie. Maybe White Lightning since it also has some small-town/small-minds commentary?
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
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Yeah, this looks like another sort-of-bland, 1970s road movie....
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest: I didn't like Easy Rider, either.
I was surprised by how much I love this movie, given my usual aversion to road movies and my especial dislike for Easy Rider. But I found it more suggestive and mythological than Easy Rider's hippie bullshit; this is like an old quest movie instead of a mere road trip. I don't think it's so much a metaphor for life as a sly but sympathetic look at masculinity and how men feel when they can't be men.
ReplyDeleteCompared to something like Easy Rider, this is almost brutally anti-romantic. That scene where GTO tries to describe his individualist dream to the girl, only for her to turn away and go to sleep, is so heartbreaking but also darkly funny; the movie has some pity for these men but largely doesn't want to hear their insipid takes on the barbaric yawp. There's no pandering in this film, which I find a welcome relief from other counterculture movies like The Graduate or Easy Rider.
I'm with Jake on this one, it's a great and very moving film. In its minimalist way, it's about people who have no place in society, who aimlessly just sort of exist at the fringes without purpose. I also like Jake's interpretation of the film in terms of masculinity.
ReplyDeleteIt could be paired very well with Vanishing Point, another great 70s car movie.
This one is on my to-watch road film list. I'll be curious to see if I vibe with the 70s minimalism or not. Really, it seems that nothing tops Paris,Texas for American road zen.
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