High Speed Drifters

Three Men, Two Cars, One Woman

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) – Two drifters in a ‘55 Chevy drag racer travel the country looking to hustle local hot rods for money.  When they pick up a pretty young hitchhiker, their carefully balanced life falls apart.

Directed by Monte Hellman

Starring James Taylor, Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird

Why I Liked It – Never asks too much of its cast and is true to its minimalist concept.

So, first of all.  Yes, THAT James Taylor.  Sweet Baby James himself.  His first big album had just come out, and the director saw him on a billboard.  Dennis Wilson, drummer for the Beach Boys.  And they play the lead characters here.  Between the two, they had ZERO acting experience.  Laurie Bird made her screen debut here.  She had been a model and also had no acting experience.  This is one of only four movies she ever made.  Warren Oates brought a ton of experience, including lots of television roles plus “The Wild Bunch” on the film side.  His career spans 127 roles.  

So, it’s an interesting cast on paper.

Here’s what really grabbed me.  Director Monte Hellman was a protégé/associate of low budget icon Roger Corman.  He brings a brilliant, bare bones approach to this story.  Two young men, known only as “The Driver” (Taylor) and “The Mechanic” (Wilson) push their primer painted Chevy from town to town looking for a race.  They win more often than they lose, which allows them to eat, fix the car and keep racing in the next town down the road.  This is part road/buddy movie and part art house.  It seemed very familiar to me, and then I realized why.  There are a lot of elements here that are very familiar. First, a taste of “Easy Rider” in the story of two counterculture young men on the highway.  There’s a strong flavor of George Lucas’s “American Graffiti”, which would debut two years later. The story eventually involves a cross country race. Which spurred thoughts of the classic, real life “Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy. According to founder Brock Yates, that race was inspired in part by this movie.  The race then inspired other movies.  There’s even just a hint of the classic racing movie “Le Mans” because the main characters share very little dialogue.

Taylor’s driver character is intense when he’s behind the wheel.  It’s Wilson’s mechanic who carries any dialogue during those scenes.  The roles are reversed when the car is being worked on.  This gives the two musicians a simpler job on screen.  Both do marvelously well.  Along with Bird, they simply are their characters.  Everyone is natural, including the lack of “smoothness” to the dialogue.  Tension grows as both guys are attracted to their passenger, and she’s willing to share a bed with them and Oates’ character.  He’s interesting here because he’s playing against the type I associate with his career.  Rather than scruffy and sarcastic, here he’s a shallow smoothie who offers a different life story to everyone he meets.  His pride and joy give him his name “G.T.O.”  The challenge race between the two cars is inevitable.

I won’t give away the ending, other than to say that it’s not Hollywood in any form.  I loved it.  It just happens. The screen goes black and the credits roll.

There’s one idea that occurred to me as I watched this movie that I can’t resist sharing.  The similarities between the drag story lines in this movie and “American Graffiti” jumped out at me.  John Milner is exactly the guy the Driver and Mechanic would look for.  “The fastest car in the valley” is who they’re looking to take down.  Milner’s story takes place in 1962, “Two-Lane Blacktop” in 1970.  Both cars end up with disruptive young women tagging along.  As the movie headed towards its close, the thought occurred to me. What if The Driver is Milner’s little brother?  The canon of AG says a drunk driver kills that Milner in 1964.  The two in this movie look to be in their early 20s, tops.  Call it 20 years old.  A kid brother who idolizes his hot rod legend older brother.  Who saw him die on the road when he was 13 or 14 years old.  I can’t find any indication this movie influenced that Lucas or not, but that story arc feels really good to me. As always, YMMV.

I’d never heard of this movie.  I had ZERO expectations.  It was the unusual names at the top of the cast that drew my attention.  It blew me away.  I would put it on the list of great racing movies.

“Two-Lane Blacktop” is not available to stream at this moment.  It is part of the Criterion Collection and you can buy copies of it on Amazon.

Rating – ***** Highest Recommendation